The Autobot and The Arc
by blaiseingfire
Summary: After barely escaping a Decepticon attack, Arcee's shuttle crash lands on a mysterious planet. She soon discovers that the world is more dangerous than it appears. Alone and with no way off the planet, will she go into hiding, or will a young boy who dreams of being a hero earn her friendship and trust?
1. Monrovia and Arrival

**A/N** : _So this is a new story that I thought would be fun to write. I hope you enjoy._

* * *

The alarm blared loudly as the ship shook from taking another hit. Arcee grunted as the shockwave knocked her down onto the floor. "Blast it!" She grunted as she got back up and was almost knocked back down when the ship shook again. What was supposed to be a celebration after striking a decisive victory was now a fight to escape.

By luck would have it, they intercepted a transmission that The Nemesis, Megatron's prized command ship, the symbol of his power, and the bane of every Autobot out there, was docked in a deep space repair dock near the end of the system for retrofitting.

While most of the crew was gone, Arcee and a small squad from the Autobots cruiser Monrovia, snuck aboard and crippled the ship with well-placed explosives. And most importantly, they stole The Heart of Cybertron, an ancient crystal that held immense power, and had been powering the Nemesis since it was put into service thousands of years ago.

With the Nemesis heavily damaged and its power source gone, the crew broadcasted their victorious act across cybertron. It was huge moral boost for every Autobot on Cybertron. But the crew of the Monrovia had little time to celebrate. Soon afterwards, they were under attack by a Decepticon heavy frigate. They couldn't match it in fire power so they tried to flee, and failed.

" _Alert. Engines offline. Shield failure imminent-t-t-t,_ " The ship's computer blared over the intercoms before stuttering and failing.

" _Arcee!_ " Nova's voice roared through her comlink. " _Are you still functional?_ "

"Yes," Arcee replied as she put two fingers against the side of her head, "a little shaken but I'm ok."

" _Good,_ " she replied. The ship shook again from another impact. " _Scrap! Arcee get here to the bridge as fast as you can!_ "

"Roger!" Arcee transformed into her alt-mode and speed down the hallway. If she remembered correctly, the bridge wasn't far away, just down this corridor, and around another hall.

" _This is Nova, all hands prepare to repel boarders!_ " No sooner had Nova's voices echoed over the intercom, Arcee felt several smaller shockwaves shake the ship and heard gunfire around the corner ahead of her. Right as she rounded the corner, she accelerated and prepared for combat.

A Decepticon boarding pod pierced through the hull and unloaded a squad of a dozen Decepticon Vehicons that were exchanging gunfire with other Autobots in the hallway. When she got close enough, she transformed into her bipedal mode and shifted her left hand into a blaster and her right forearm into a large arm blade.

With her momentum, she crashed into the back on one of the Vehicons and landed on top of it, slicing into another on the side while opening fire and killing two more instantly. The Vehicons panicked and turned to attack her, but she was too quick for them to counter properly and her shield protected her from what hits they did get on her. The Vehicons turning around made them vulnerable to the Autobots they were engaging earlier. The fight didn't even last fifteen seconds and the Vehicons became nothing but smoking scrap heaps..

These weren't regular Decepticons. Vehicons were sparkless drones created by Megatron's top scientist, Shockwave, in order to boost their numbers by an extraordinary number. The Autobots were eventually forced to copy them and make their drones to even the tide, but they treated their drone like actual people. However, the drones weren't as smart or strong as regular cybertronians and thus were easy to take down, especially if you have decades worth of combat experience.

"Arcee," one of the Autobot drones ran up to her. "Thanks for the assistants," he said with gratitude.

"No problem trooper," Arcee replied as she turned her hands back to normal.

"Nova is in the bridge," another drone motioned to the door behind him. "We'll keep the hallway secure. Go."

"Thank you," she nodded and sprinted past them.

* * *

"Sections 1-A and 2-B have been over run. The rest of sections 1, 2-C and 2-D, and 3-A are reporting engagements with the enemy." Nova sighed as her ensign read her a status report. They were close, they were so close to escaping with the one power source that could tip the balance of the war, only to be caught and be facing certain doom.

"Scrap!" She slammed her fist down on the terminal in front of her, causing it to dent, before turning to her ensign. "And what about Arcee?"

"She's-" her ensign paused as he turned to the opening door, "right here." Nova turned and smiled when she saw Arcee sprint in and stop right in front of her.

"Ma'am," Arcee stood at attention in front of the ship's captain.

"Arcee," Nova nodded, "follow me." Nova motioned for Arcee to follow her. "I'll keep this short, we're not going to last long. It's only a matter of time until we're overrun. So I need you to do something for me, something very important."

"Certainly," Arcee nodded. "What do you need me to do?" They stopped in front of a heavy duty crate. Nova typed in a code on the panel and the crate opened with a hiss and a bright, ominus lime green glow illuminated from inside. Arcee looked inside and her optics widened in shock. It was the Heart of Cybertron.

It was a unique crystal that, to Arcee, looked like a star. Rumor was that it was one of the main sources of power on Cybertron before Megatron got his clutches on it and used it to power the Nemesis to near invincible power. She heard that members from her strike force secured it, but seeing it up close…

She was thrown out of her stumper when the crystal seemed to hover in mid air Nova placed a protective, non transparent square casing around it. She took the cube with both hands and turned to her.

"If the Decepticons were to get their claws back on this the war will tip back in their favor." It was no secret that ever so slowly, the Decepticons were gaining ground and had the edge in the war. "Arcee, I know you fought alongside Optimus Prime many times before. Which is why I trust you with this." She held the cube towards her. "Arcee, get this back to Optimus. If you can't, do everything necessary to keep it out of the Decepticon's hands."

Arcee stared into Nova's optics for a moment before her expression hardened. "Yes ma'am," she said with vigor in her spark as she took the cube and attached it securely to her back. "I won't let you down." Nova nodded with a smile and turned around.

"Ensign, what's the status of the hanger 3-C?" she asked.

"One moment," he replied as he checked a terminal. "3-C is clear. We still have a cargo shuttle in there."

"Thank you. Arcee take the shuttle and get out of here. Quickly, go!" Arcee didn't take the time to salute or respond, she was already sprinting out the door to the hanger. As soon as she was gone, Nova sighed as she turned around, walked towards a terminal, and pressed a button to activate the intercom. "This is Nova," she spoke into it. "All hands, abandon ship! Repeat, all hands, aban-" she never got a chance to finished her sentence because she was knocked down to the ground.

When she got up, she saw that a boarding pod had breached the bridge and shifted her arm into a blaster. She and whoever was on the bridge opened fire on the Vehicons that exited the craft. Another craft breached on the other side of the bridge and Nova and a few other shifted their fire over there.

Suddenly Nova heard a large explosion take out some of the bridge crew She never got a chance to turn around as another explosion knocked her down. Fear rose through her when she tried to get up and found that both of her legs were cut off from above the knee.

"Nova!" She heard her ensign shout. "Don't worry I'l -ACK!" She heard another explosion and recoiled back when the body of her ensign fell in front of her, with smoke coming out of a large hole in his chest. She was then immediately kicked into the side of a terminal and a large hand wrapped around her neck and lifted her up. Her optics widened in shock when she saw who picked her up. Cold, hatred filled red optics stared into her soul.

"You are the captain of this vessel," Megatron stated more than asked. "You stole something that belongs to me."

"I-I'm sure I don't know w-what you'r-HRK!" Megatron tightened his grip around her neck.

"Do not play games with me! I am no fool!" Megatron growled. "You will tell me where the Heart of Cybertron is, or you will join the rest of your crew."

"E-even i-if I-I... tell you," Nora struggled to say, "Y-you'd kill-l me… anyway."

"So be it." Megatron placed his fusion cannon to her chest and fired, vaporising a large portion of her chest. Her limbs twitch for a few seconds until the color in her optics flickered for a moment before fading away as she ceased to functioned, with smoke pluming from her mouth.

" _Megatron,_ " Soundwave's cold, calculative voice played through Megatron's coms as he dropped Nova's body, " _scans indicate that the Heart of Cybertron is on the move. It appears to be headed to a hanger. The Autobots will attempt to evacuate the energon crystal, most likely via a shuttle._ "

"Deploy a squadron of Jet Vehilcons and order them to not destroy any ship that leaves the cruiser, but to disable and board them. We're not risking anything that could destroy our prize." He responded before addressing his troops. "Decepticons, secure the rest of the ship! No survivors!"

"Yes Lord Megatron!" His soldiers shouted in chorus before moving out.

* * *

Arcee sprinted into the hangar where the shuttle awaited her. Two drones were loading cargo onto the shuttle. "Troopers!" She called out as she ran up to them. "How's the shuttle?"

"Fit and ready to go," one of the drones responded. "We loaded in a couple of crates of energon and supplies and the engines are already running hot."

"Good. Alright lets-" Their attention was immediately to the opposite end of the hanger as the doors blew open. A hail of blaster fire erupted from the doorway before the Vehicons were visible. "On the shuttle, go!" Arcee and the two drones hurried up the ramp while opening fire, trying to pin down the Vehicons. The second drone didn't make it as he was knocked off the ramp and finished off by the massive amount of gunfire as the Decepticon forces flooded the hanger.

Arcee rushed to the pilot's seat and started the takeoff sequence, with the drone standing behind her. The ramp retracted and the engines revved up, making the shuttle hover off the ground. Despite the hail of blaster fire, the shuttle was able to leave the hanger with very little damage.

"Yeah!" The drone cheered. "We made it!"

"We're not clear yet," Arcee said as the radar to her side flashed in alarm. "We have Jet-cons incoming." She turned on the afterburners and attempted to outrun and outmaneuver the seekers. She tried to lose them by flying through a debris field of destroyed ships from a past battle, but the Decepticons stayed hot on her tail. "Do we have and defenses or weaponry?"

"Negative. This is an old cargo shuttle. We didn't start building them with cannons until after Optimus came into-" He was interrupted as the shuttle violently shook, almost knocking him down. He got back up and looked at the status screen. "Scrap, we lost one of our engines! We're still moving, but..." He didn't know how to word it, but the implication was clear.

"No." For a rare moment in her life, fear welled up within Arcee. The balance of the war was fated on her success. She could not fail now. She couldn't. She… she looked over to the radar and saw that a Decepticon shuttle was flying in next to them. One loud thud followed by several softer, muffled thuds came from the side of the ship as the shuttle attached itself to their ship.

"They're going to board us." Sparks starting flying inside the side of the ship from the outside, moving in a circle to make a hole in the ship. Arcee shot up from her seat and readied her weapons alongside the drone. The sparks stopped and the hull exploded inward, but she didn't let it distract her and opened fire.

Five Vehicons rushed in. Two were gunned down before they made it inside. The other three rushed forward guns blazing with the intent to engage in melee combat. One was gunned down and the other was sliced in half by Arcee's arm blade. The last Vehicon tackled the drone to the ground. Arcee aimed her blaster to help, but the sound of a revving engine took her attention back to the hull breach.

A Decepticon in his alt-mode rushed in and transformed. Arcee only had the time to realize that it was the Decepticon named Barricade before he slammed into her. She grunted as she impacted against a terminal and fell on all fours. Barricade immediately followed with a hard hitting kick to her head, flipping her over to her back and disorientating her for a moment.

Barricade then stomped his foot down on her neck. She tried in vain to push it off when he turned shifted his arm into a buzz saw. "Say goodnight Autobot scum," He taunted with a cold demeanor as he raised his arm up, the buzz saw revving up.

"Get off of her! Raagh!" The drone rush forward and jumped on Barricade's back. As they struggled, his foot was taken off of her, allowing Arcee a moment to recover. She gasped when she realized that the cube containing the Heart of Cybertron had fallen off of her back. She quickly glanced over and crawled towards it. One side of the crate fell off, exposing the omni-pointed crystal, but to her relief it looked undamaged.

"Aaah!" Arcee turned around in time to see Barricade take his buzz saw out of the drone's head and discard the body behind him. His buzz saw then shifted into an smg and then he aimed it at her and opened fire. Arcee dodged to the left and shifted her arm into a blaster, but had to roll to the right to dodge another hail of gunfire. As she raised her arm to fire she paused when she heard a high pitched whistling to her left and saw Barricade's optics widen and jaw drop in fear.

She turned to the left and gasped. The high fire rate of the smg made it inaccurate and sent the bullets everywhere. He hit a crate causing it to spill liquid energon onto the Heart of Cybertron, which also had part of it chipped off, obviously by Barricade's fire. Covered in energon and damaged by gunfire, the crystal began turning to an ominous red color and started vibrating, increasing in intensity as seconds ticked by.

"Slag!" Barricade shouted in fear as he turned to run away. Arcee only had time to shield her face with her arms as as her vision was suddenly engulfed in heat and a white light. Soon, everything became cold and black.

* * *

Color slowly returned to Arcee's optics as she came out of stasis. She tried to move but everything hurt. She shook her head and fought through the pain. She rolled over onto her stomach and realized that she was lying in some kind of liquid.

"Water?" She questioned as she ran her hand through the liquid on the ground. Water was very rare on Cybertron, to the point where many doubted it even existed on the planet. She slowly pushed herself up on all fours and then on her two feet and looked behind her and took in her surroundings.

The shuttle has seen better day. There wasn't a part of it that wasn't dented or covered in some kind of debris. A crack in the ceiling allowed a ray of sunlight in. There were two crates of energon left, she assumed the rest were lost. To her dismay, the Heart of Cybertron was gone, with only a black scorch mark staining the floor where it once was.

She wasn't as bothered by that fact as she should have. Maybe it was because she was tired, or because the thought of it being destroyed meant that the Decepticons can't get it back thus technically succeeding in her task, or maybe it was because of what she was staring at.

The rear ramp was down she was able to look outside at the massive ocean of water. She finally realized that she wasn't on Cybertron anymore, but that left one important question. Where was she now? She turned around and walked to the terminals but she couldn't get a response out of them, the power was completely gone.

She then walked to the edge of the ramp and looked down at the water, staring at her own reflection. Her entire body was covered in dents and scratches, as if she'd survived and crawled out of the pits of Kaon. She leaned out and looked to the left, then to the right, and saw that the ship had crashed and probably caused a dent on a cliffside made out of gray rocks, making a small alcove.

To the left there was another large rock sticking out of the cliff, going out a fair distance into the ocean and blocking her from seeing the horizon. However, above the rock, contrast to the gray, was something green and yellow. This peeked Arcee's interest and she decided to investigate. Hugging the cliffside closely, she slowly inched her way across, not wanting to test how deep the water was, and climbed up and jumped over the rock. Her optics widened at what she saw.

She visited the Library of Iacon several times when she was just a little sparkling. There she read some stories about other worlds. One that peaked her curiosity was that talked about worlds full of other life, where living organisms called 'plants' would grow and help life bloom everywhere across the planet. Those pictures use to fascinate her, but to see the real thing…

Arcee shook her head. Now wasn't time to get lost in happy memories. Though she supposed that as long as she was here, exploring the surrounding area wouldn't hurt.

* * *

 **A/N** : _And there we have it. What did you guys think? Like it? Hate it? Leave a review, all criticism is welcomed._

 _I want to give a quick shout out to Cyberleader2000 for being my beta and go-to nerd for Transformers facts/continuity._

 _Anyway, thank you for reading, have a good day!_


	2. The Town

**A/N** : _Here we are with the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it._

* * *

Arcee continued her steady trek through the forest. She has been walking for just over an hour. Though her body was dented and damaged in many places, her servos still functioned properly so she could move at a steady pace and act quickly if need be. In order to make sure she can still find the ship she walked in as straight of a line as possible.

It all felt… peaceful. That word felt almost foreign to her, but it was true. This world, this forest was just filled with so much life. So much color, it was such a contrast to the metal, war-torn hellish landscape that dominated most of Cybertron. None of that was here. Where it was in the form of the plants or the small creatures that scuttled around, life was blooming everywhere.

In her journey, she came across a stream of water. It looked more crystal clear than the water from the ocean she crash landed by. Sunlight light sparkled off the water. She leaned down and stuck her hand in it. The water felt cold, yet somehow relaxing and refreshing as she felt it flow between her fingers and against her palm.

A strong gust of wind blew from behind her, taking many of the green, yellow, and red things from the tall brown pillars with it. They flew thorugh the air in a colorful wave. Arcee felt a rare, genuine smile form on her face. Whatever world she crashed on, it was a beautiful one.

She walked out into a clearing where she could see the sky. Off in the distance over a hilltop, she saw a plume of black smoke rising up to the sky. From experience, Arcee knew that black smoke meant that something was burning. But what? She jogged up to the top of the hill to get a better view point.

Once at the top she saw where the smoke was coming from. It was coming from cluster of artificial structures, that looked like small buildings from Cybertron.. It was a town. Arcee's optics widened slightly at a sudden realization. Something had to build them. This planet was inhabited by an intelligent species. But the smoke… it was too large for a controlled burning. Were they under attack?

Battle hardened instincts kicked in as Arcee took off into a full sprint towards the town. This was her first, and possible only chance to find out more about what world she was on. But more importantly, if the town was under attack and there were inhabitants in danger, she wouldn't be able to call herself an Autobot if she stood by while innocents died.

After several minutes, she reached and crouched behind a building. She shifted her left arm into a blaster and started mentally counting. Once she reached three, she rolled into the road and took a battle stance with her blaster aimed forward, ready to open fire at a moment's notice. She scanned the road ahead of her for movement but found none.

The road she was on was strange. Most of it behind her and a little in front of her was a dirt path. It then went to a bunch of small gray rocks and then turned into a flat black surface, with yellow lines running down the center. The buildings in front of her as seen better days. Many of them were damaged, leaving their rubble out onto the road. One had even fully collapsed on itself. A few small craters, holes, and slash marks dotted the road and buildings in front of her

It almost looked like an abandoned, old war-torn section on Cybertron. There was no doubt in Arcee's mind that there was an attack of some kind. But by who and by what was still a mystery, one that she planned to find out. She stood up and cautiously walked down the street, blaster at the ready and being perceptive of her surroundings.

She reached an intersection and turned right. Where the smoke was coming from, or what was causing it, wasn't that much further. There were more signs of battle but no signs of the town's inhabitants. It gave Arcee an unsettling feeling. ' _What happened to them?_ ' Before she could contemplate further, she saw something behind a piece of debris and rushed forward to investigate.

Her optics widened when she crouched down next to it. It appeared to be a life form… or it was, the wounds across its chest and the red liquid that stained it showed that it had been killed. It was a bipedal creature with two legs, arms with five fingers each, and a head. It had two eyes, two ears on the side of it's head, a mouth, a nose, and some brown fur on the top of it's head. It looked almost exactly like a cybertronian, but organic and smaller. It looked like if it stood up straight its head would reach her upper thigh.

She quickly glanced around and saw no others. Did the rest evacuate and this one was just an unlucky one to get caught and killed? She reached down and ,as softly as she could, brought two of her fingers up and gently closed it's eyes. "Till all are one." She said softly. A moment later she stood back up and continued down the road. She thought about the injuries the poor creature sustained. It almost reminded her of-... ' _No, it can't be them. Not here._ '

Arcee was drawn out of her thoughts when she saw more things further down the road. There were several machines scattered throughout the road. They were damaged and had parts of them scattered about. But what really took Arcee's curiosity was that some of them looked very similar to the alt forms of the Vehicons and many of the Autobots.

She crouched down and got a closer look. These were hollowed out and had windows that were made of glass. On the inside there were seats, a wheel, and some other levers. They had to be some kind of transportation for these life forms. As curious and exciting this was, it almost made Arcee feel a little uneasy. First the aliens look like them and now they build machines that look like them. Talk about weird.

She glanced to her right. There was another one of those machines, but it was the one next to it that caught her attention. Unlike the square, bulky machines, this one was much smaller, slender, and had two wheels. She quickly realized that on a planet with other intelligent life, she would stick out like a bright beacon on this planet without a proper disguise. Liking the fact that this vehicle was similar to the alt mode she used most of her life, she decided that this bi-wheeled vehicle would suffice.

When she got close to it she activated her trans-scanner. Several bright, rapid moving blue scanning lasers shot from her eyes and moved all over the bi-wheeled vehicle, scanning everything about about the vehicle, from its appearance to its mechanisms. Moments later the lasers stopped and Arcee closed her optics. She then transformed into her new alt mode.

It was an exact copy of the bi-wheeled vehicle, but had the color scheme of her bipedal form; blue, gray, and black, with none of the pink visible. It also was damaged, with metal bent, warped, indented, and with some paint scratches like her bipedal mode was. But she can get that fixed when she returns to the ship. Satisfied, she transformed back, re-readied her weapons, and continued to the fuming smoke.

A little over a minute later she walked into some kind of town square. It was a disaster. She finally found out where the smoke was coming from: There were two of some kind of ship crashed on the road, with one completely engulfed in flames. The other had two wings and engines, one on each side, with one badly damaged. At least a two dozen bodies were scattered throughout the square, but unlike the one she found earlier they were made of metal and had nuts, bolts, and wires sticking out of them.

Arcee noticed how all of them were armed with some kind of weapon and concluded that they were some kind of military bots. She would have questioned if they were the ones that attacked the town, but they had similar cuts and tears as the organic did, and judging by how their bodies were positioned, they were defending the ship. Getting closer to the ship, she found four more bodies. They were more of the organics, but that had metal armor plating on them with guns next to their bodies, though one was missing his. They all had the same red liquid as the one from before and they had the same injuries.

Arcee was now starting to feel uneasy. She still did not know what happened here, and the claw and tear marks on all of the bodies seemed too similar t- ' _Get it together Arcee! They're still on Cybertron. There's no possible way they're here._ ' Arcee shook her head to clear her thoughts, but the question still remained: what did this to them? Looking over the other ship, she noticed that a ramp was down on the back.

Something inside the ship was worth dying over for these organics, and she wanted to know what. Arcee walked over to the other side of the ship, and then immediately wished she hadn't, flinching back and her optics widened with a shocked gasp.

More of those creatures, about more than two dozen or so, were inside and scattered around the area beside the ship. They were all dead. Some of them were soldiers and the rest appeared to be civilians. But what really shocked her to her core was that most of the creatures looked like the organic equivalent of sparklings. They where so much smaller than the rest, and two of them were so small that they were cradled in the arms of others.

* * *

 _Arcee had only been in military service for just over a stellar cycle. So far it wasn't as bad as she feared. She was part of a squad of five other autobots, self named Jackal Squad, in charge of guarding a sector in the outskirts of Iacon. They were extremely efficient at their job. Any Decepticon or Vehicon that tried to get through or sneak past them was driven away or destroyed. It was good._

 _But then one day, the Decepticons conducted a major offensive_ and breached Iacon's defenses, pushing deep into the city. _Her squad rushed in to aid in the defenders of their capital city. They helped the city's defense forces hold the line after over a solar cycle of fighting. They were about to join the main force's offensive to fully drive the Decepticons out of the city, when her squad received a distress signal._

" _*bzt* -is is Echo platoon leader Diamond Bolt! Decepticon forces hav- *bzt* 31-A *bzzzzzzzt* -peat, the Decepticons are breaching the perimeter of Incubation Housing Chamber 531-A! Anyone who can hear thi- *bzt*" And then the transmission was lost. Incubation chambers were where young sparklings, including those yet to start functioning, were kept until they grew and matured enough. And the Decepticons were attacking one of them._

 _Jackal Squad immediately rushed to the housing to aid in its defense. To Arcee, this was personal. That was the chamber where she spent her earliest cycles growing up, and she also visited it during her leave periods. She always enjoyed helping out and spending time with the younger sparklings. They were just so full of curiosity and innocence that she couldn't help but feel happy while with them._

 _And now the Decepticons were trying to kill them. She was not going to allow that._

 _She and her squad made it to the incubation housing chamber through the rear and made it just in the nick of time, as the Decepticons were trying to breach the first chamber. Her squad and some guards took positions at the main door while others attempted to evacuated the sparklings. Unfortunately they didn't have as much time as they thought. Almost immediately, something started to bang down the main security down, warping it with each impact._

 _ **Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr**_

 _Everyone froze at that terrible sound coming from the other side of the door. What kind of Decepticons were they up against? She felt a sparkling cling to her leg servo, hiding behind her in fear. Not even a moment later, the door was broken down and all hell broke loose. This would be Arcee's first, but not the last, encounter with the Terrorcons._

 _The Terrorcons are a special team of Decepticons. Instead of a transportation type of alt-forms, they turned into monsters that excelled in terror and murder._ they are made up of Rippersnapper, Blot, Sinnertwin, Cutthroat and their Leader Hun-Gurrr. _Arcee and her team were able to hold their ground for a while, but it soon became evident that the Terrorcons were just playing with them. They soon grew bored and pushed forward. The Autobots never stood a chance._

 _Arcee was immediately engaged by Arachnid, who pinned her to a wall with her synthetic cybertronian webbing. She wrapped her up almost completely, leaving her audio receptors uncovered on purpose. Arcee struggled to break free but to no avail. She was trapped._

 _Trapped as she heard the fighting rage on in the favor of the Decepticons. Trapped as she heard her teammates, that she have come to know and love since boot, camp get killed. Trapped as she heard the high pitch, frightened screams of the sparklings getting slaughtered one by one. Trapped as she heard the Terrorcons laugh and cheer for their victory as they left the facility._

 _It felt like mega-cycles, and it probably was, but Arcee was finally able to break free. Her entire body hurt, it was hard to move. She struggled to get on her two feet and move into the facility. She only made it to the next room before she froze in fear._

 _Hundreds of sparklings were lying on the floor dead. Shot, cut, torn apart, crushed, and with blue energon leaking from their bodies. Arcee fell to her knees, optics shaking. They were all gone. Sparklings who could have lived, grown, learned, and accomplish great things in their lives… gone before they ever got the chance._

 _She heard whimpering to her left. It was a sparkling trying to crawl away to safety. It was covered in blue energon. She rushed over to pick it up, to see if she could help it. The sparkling died in her arms seconds later. Arcee didn't know how long she stared at the sparkling. She then looked around the room as she finally understood the full weight of the situation._

 _She held the sparkling's body close, and wept._

* * *

Arcee shook and gripped her head, getting the painful memories out of her mind. She then looked down sadly at one of the organic sparkling's bodies. Noticing it's eyes were still open, she crouched down and gently closed her eyes.

"Til all are one, little one," she whispered softly. "You deserved better than this." There was nothing Arcee could have done to help, and it pained her. She didn't know who or what did this, but if she ever found out-

Something on the ground caught Arcee's attention. It's white color contrasted the brown and black of the ground. She carefully picked it up with her fingertips. It was tiny but it looked like it could fit into the hands of these creatures. The device then extended and lit up, displaying text on a near invisible glass screen. Was this some kind of communications device? A computer? Maybe something that could give her information about this world, what these creatures are, and maybe shed some light on what happened here.

Looking over the device, she saw a port on the side of it. She quickly scanned it and then held her pointer finger up. Out the tip came a wire that shifted into plug that would fit into the port. She plugged it in and started scanning the device for everything she could find. Unfortunately, she didn't have much time to scan it.

 **Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr**

Gasping in fear at the familiar growl, Arcee dropped the device and shot backwards against the ship with her arm transformed into a blaster. ' _Damn it Arcee, get control of yourself!_ ' She shouted internally as she shut her eyes tight. ' _They're back on Cybertron, there's no way that was them! Just calm down._ ' Her body stopped shaking a few moments later as she calmed down.

But that growl was all too familiar to her. She fought the terrorcons dozens of times, each just as or more brutal and nightmare enduring than the last. The things she saw and heard haunted her for years. She grew familiar with their sounds. But if it wasn't the Terrorcons, then what was it?

The sound of an impact and warping metal came from above her. Arcee quickly combat rolled forward, turned around, stood on one knee, and aimed her blaster up at whatever jumped on top of the destroyed ship. Arcee had time to observe what it was. It wasn't a Terrorcon, but it sure as the Pit looked like one.

The creature was jet black, had white armor with red engravings on it, and had glowing red eyes. It was bipedal but was also standing on its two muscular arms. It had large, sharp teeth sticking up from its bottom lip. A haunting black mist seemed to evaporate from it's body as it eyed her closely.

The creature then roared loudly to the sky as it rapidly beat on its chest before leaping up towards her with the intend to smash her. Arcee's first a shot but missed as she rolled out of the way. The creature hit the ground, making a small crater before charging at her again. But this time she was prepared as she fired her blaster at it again, scoring a hit.

Her energon reserves were lower than she thought, so the blast wasn't as powerful as she thought, but it still achieved the desired results. The creature fell back, screaming and howling in pain as it rolled over, holding the left side of its chest where it was hit. Arcee de-transformed her blaster and extended her arm blades, intending to finish the creature off. But she paused when she heard a chorus of growls, howls, and roars all around her.

More of them were coming.

* * *

 **A/N** : _Welcome to the world of bloody evolution Arcee._

 _So what did you guys think? Like it? Hate it? Think something could be improved? leave a review, all criticism is welcomed._

 _Special thanks Cyberleader2000 for beta-ing and for being my go-to nerd for Transformer terms and facts, and to Austin Ga Kill for giving this a final look over._

 _Thanks again for reading. Have a good day!_


	3. Monsters and The Boy

**A/N** : _I would have had this up yesterday, but I was too busy celebrating_ **AMERICA DAY** _with my family to do so._

 _By anyway, here we go with chapter 3. Enjoy._

* * *

It didn't take long before more of those monsters began to show up. They were coming out of the buildings and through the streets. But these ones were different than the first one. These ones were walking on all four limbs and were constantly snarling and licking their teeth with their tongues. Some of which were slightly bigger and had more armor than others. They reminded Arcee of a long dead Decepticon named Carnivac.

There were also a few larger ones. They too stood on all fours, and were a lot larger and bulkier than the smaller ones, and they too varied in size and armor. There were also a lot of them. Several packs of them were slowly approaching from multiple directions, as if they weren't sure what to think of their target and were being cautious.

She heard several snares around them, and turned around to see more of them. Many of them had their teeth and claws stained red, much like the liquid from the slain creatures. She quickly spun around in multiple directions with her arm blades extended, careful not to leave one flank unobserved for too long. This was not good. She didn't know their combat capabilities and they outnumbered her by several dozen to one.

"Come on..." one of the things tilted its head as she spoke. "Come on… I'm right here. What are you slagging waiting for?" Whether these things were coordinating an attack or were waiting for an opening she didn't know. But she wasn't going to get caught off guard.

Suddenly she heard a roar much louder than the others coming from behind her. She spun around with her arm blades extended outwards. Her assumption was correct as one of the Carnivac type beasts was leaping towards her. But she swung too high and missed. The beast dug its claws and teeth into her leg. It did little to damage her, but it felt like scraplets were trying to dig into her.

With a war cry mixed with pain, she tore the beast off and threw it to a nearby building and through a wall. She didn't know if that killed it, but it was enough to signal the rest to attack. With loud roars, they all charged her. She combat rolled towards where they were the thinnest, and double slashed forward. She cut three of them in half and ran forward a bit and turned around to face the rest of the hoard. More of them charged her and were cut down as easily as the first few.

One of the larger bulky ones charged with one of the smaller ones. The larger one was a lot stronger than the other's as expected. She couldn't cut clean through it with one swipe, but she was able to leave a deep gash in it. It didn't get back up.

Something moving fast hit her in the back of her leg, causing her to fall backwards on the floor. She couldn't get up in time before she got swarmed by those things. She screamed at the pain of them trying to claw and tear her apart. She then quickly rolled over several times, getting them off of her and crushing a few. She quickly got up and saw the thing that blindsided her.

This creature had stubby legs and long tusks. Its appearance reminded her of the Decepticon Snarler. It roared at her and cramped up into a ball. It spun in place, picking up speed before rushing towards her. She rolled out of the way and once it passed she turned and ran after it. When it finally stopped rolling, it couldn't turn in time before getting sliced in two.

More roars caught her attention. She looked all around her and saw more of those things coming. From the buildings, through the streets, from the alleyways, from the rooftops. There seemed to be no end to them. But Arcee wasn't going to give up. Those monsters slaughtered these creatures. Organic sparklings included. If she ran away then they could go and cause more of the same death and destruction else where. She couldn't allow that.

She wouldn't allow it.

"Is that all you got?!" She taunted them. Almost as if they knew, some of them roared louder and angrier as they charged her. "Ragh!" She met their charge with a battle cry.

She kept on fighting. She didn't know for how long, but she fought on against the seemingly endless horde. Dozens upon dozens of more times the monsters charged her, and dozens upon dozens of more times she cut and crushed them down. She kept going until finally the last one fell. The only noise heard was her rapid intake and exhale of air to cool her systems from overheating.

As she retracted her arm blades and now had the time to efficiently observe her surroundings, she noticed something. Despite the massive fight she just had, there were no bodies to be seen anywhere. She quickly turned to her fresh kills and her eyes widened. The bodies were quickly decaying, evaporating into a black mist. They were gone moments later. She took one last look over the battlefield before looking back at where the bodies once were.

She crouched down to one knee and rubbed her hand on the spot where the monster once was. "What are you?" She asked herself as she stared at her palm, as if she expected to see some kind of residue from the beast. If not for the scratches, pain, and the torn up ground she would have thought the whole fight was some kind of hallucination.

Arcee then stood up and checked the surrounding area. She had an inkling, little feeling in the back of her head that there were more of them. She wasn't sure that she got all of them. There could still be more in the town or in the surrounding forest. They definitely would have heard the sounds of the fighting and at least some of them would no doubt come and investigate.

She saw movement off in the distance down a street. It was quick and whatever it was moved out of sight before she could identify what it was, but it was obvious it was another one of those monsters. She wanted to charge down the street to take it out, but the more rational side thought of a better plan. The beast was no doubt already coming towards her, why not set an ambush and wait?

She smirked as she transformed and drove behind a wall on the side of the street. Once there, she purposefully knocked down a piece of debris on top of her and tipped herself over on her side. It was a common trick she played with the Vehicons. She would be in her alt mode and play dead to avoid detection or to catch them off guard once they passed her. These monsters seemed to walk past the damaged vehicles without a care, so it should work here as well.

Arcee waited for several minutes before she began to hear footsteps approaching. She immediately noticed something was off. These footsteps seemed lighter than usual, and out of place for something that was supposed to walk on four limbs. That had to mean it wasn't one of those things. But if not one of them…

Something then slowly walked out from the corner of the street. Arcee almost gasped. It was one of those bipedal creatures! One of them was still alive! But it looked like it was in pain.

The clothes on its body had numerous cuts and holes in them. Red liquid stained the clothes, mainly around some of the cuts. Water appeared to have stained its cheeks and eyes. Its chest heaved back and forth rapidly with each panicked breath as it looked around the square rapidly in a panic.

"Hello?" it called out. "Anyone?"

It spoke in another language, so different from any Cybertronian dialects Arcee had ever heard, yet she was able to understand him. How was that possible? ' _Wait… that small device!_ ' Arcee thought. ' _Did I learn their language and not realize it?_ ' She didn't have time to analyse what she downloaded, but it made sense.

Then it laid its eyes on her, and walked over.

* * *

Jaune Arc was scared. He was tired, hungry, thirsty, bleeding, covered in sweat, hurt all over, and most of all he just wanted to go home.

Jaune was a thirteen year old boy who grew up in one of Vale's outer towns to the east called Camaron. He had three older sisters; Joan, and the twins Jessica and Jeremiah, and he had four younger sisters; Jenny, June, and the twins Jade and June.

His father and oldest sister were a huntsman and huntress respectively. Growing up, he was fascinated by the tales they would tell about their hunts and fights against the Grimm. He wanted to be just like them, but his parents were strictly against the idea, and his sisters were with them.

Currently, he was in Rorke's Drift, a trading hub town south of Camaron, and historically one of the first battlegrounds between Vale and Minstral during the Great War. He traveled there with Joan, she wanted to visit some friends and he hoped to learn something for a history paper he had to write and find a gift for June's upcoming eighth birthday.

On their second day there, things started to turn for the worst. In, the afternoon, as if out of nowhere, Grimm activity spiked sporadically in the surrounding areas. The town thankfully had a capable militia, a ton of Atlesian Knight 133 droids, and a few huntsmen and huntresses, including his sister, to keep the Grimm back. But the bulk of the horde was still out there and Vale ordered many of the towns and villages in the area to evacuate.

The following day, which was today in fact, airships from Vale and bullheads from the Atlas military outpost arrived in waves to evacuate the town's inhabitants until the Grimm threat was put under control. The droids would be left behind to try and thin the Grimm's numbers for the counter attack force. Just as the last wave of transports was loaded with the last of the town's people, including Jaune and his sister, the Nevermores arrived.

Chaos set in instantly. The pilots tried to take off as quickly as they could just as the Nevermores fired a barrage of their feathers. Four transports were hit by the razor sharp projectiles. Two were taken down. One exploded in flames while the other crash landed, leaving its surviving occupants at the mercy of the Grimm. A third was hit but it kept flying.

The fourth, the one that Jaune was in, got grazed by a feather, tearing part of the side open. Another feather hit, causing the ship to ricochet and making Jaune and a soldier fall out. Thankfully they weren't as high as the other ships so the fall wasn't that bad, but they couldn't turn back to get them or they'd get taken down by the Nevermores. Jaune slowly recovered and shook the daze from his head, just in time to see a Beowolf tackle the soldier.

The soldier killed the monster, but not before it tore through and crippled his legs. Jaune rushed to help but he couldn't do much. With more Grimm approaching, the soldier held up his rifle and told him to run. And that's what he did.

Jaune grabbed the gun by the leather strap and ran away as fast as his feet would carry him. Away from the downed soldier. Away from the downed ships. Away from the gunfire. Away from the screams. He doesn't remember the rest, it was all a blur to him. All he knew was that he was huddled on the second floor of a ruined building.

He tried his best to remain stoic, to hide his emotions so the Grimm wouldn't find him, just like mom and dad taught him. But over time, the reality of the situation slowly dawned on him, and he slowly began to break down. Tears slowly began to leave his eyes.

"I'm gonna die here," he managed to choke out. "Oh God I'm going to die here." His breathing became more sporadic. "Joan, June… I'm never going to see them again." He gripped his head with both hands. "I'm never going to see any of them again." His voice started to crack.

A small, sad smile started to form on his face. "This is why they didn't want me to," he mumbled to himself, letting a chuckle escape through his lips, "why they never wanted me to follow in their footsteps, isn't it?"

His body tensed up when he heard the growling and footsteps of Grimm right outside. "I'm going to die here." His mind then flashed to the bodies he ran past. They were all torn and cut apart by claw and fang. The bodies were never fully in one piece, and the victims' faces all showing pain and fear as their last expressed emotions. "Not like this… not like this…" the footsteps grew louder, "please not like this." His eyes then slowly opened and he looked down at the object griped tightly in his hands.

That gun started to look real friendly. The Grimm no doubt would have taken their time tearing him apart, leaving him alive for many agonizing moment, drinking in his pain and misery before going in for the killing blow. On the other hand, a single bullet would be quick and painless.

"Am...am I really considering this?!" He couldn't believe it. He was actually contemplating suicide! How could he even think that?! What would his family think if they found him like that?!

 **Grrrrrrrrrrr**

...what would his family think if they found his mutilated body? As much as he didn't want to admit it, he wasn't going to get out of this alive.

With shaky hands, he slowly lifted the gun up. He was hyperventilating and tears were flowing from his eyes like waterfalls. He finally managed to point the barrel at his forehead, a clear head shot for a quick kill. The gun rattled in his hands and he muttered his final goodbyes to his family as his thumb reached for the trigger. "G-girls, p-please be strong for mom and dad." He flicked his thumb.

 _Click_

Jaune's eyes shot open a moment later. "Huh?"

 _click click click_

Empty. The gun was empty. "What?" He looked under and saw that there was no magazine in the gun. "What! How it had one when he gave it to m-... oh." He remembered now, he tripped on the street when he ran away from the crash. He must have accidentally hit the mag release button.

He didn't have time to try and comprehend his stupidity when he heard the heavy footsteps and growls right outside the window. His body tensed up and he dug in scared as he counted down his fate.

 **ROOOOOAAAAARRRRRRR**

 **BOOM**

Jaune flinched at the loud boom. "What was th-" he was cut off by a loud chorus of Grimm roars. Outside he heard a parade of footsteps running… away from him? A small speck of courage built up inside him as he slowly peeked out the window. On the streets below, swarms of Grimm were running towards the crash site, where the sounds of battle could just barely be heard, along with a loud feminine battle cry.

Jaune's breath steadied as his eyes started to shine. "A huntress." His lips slowly curled up. "Oh my god it's a huntress!" He ran down the stairs, gun in hand and hope rising within. "I'm not gonna die," he muttered happily. "I'm not gonna die, I'm not gonn-" with a startled gasp he dove to the side behind a couch.

When he approached the main door, the large paw of an Ursa came into view. The large Grimm paused for a moment to look inside through the door before continuing to where the fighting was.

"Idiot," Jaune muttered to himself, still hiding behind the couch, "I'm a freaking idiot." Now that he thought about it, charging out there to the huntress was a bad idea. For starters, the Grimm were still out there. Charging towards the huntress or not, they'll take a moment to make a quick snack out of him. And even if he made it to the square, he'd be nothing but a nuisance. He had no aura or combat training, so he most likely would have gotten in her way, which could get both of them killed.

So he decided to do the smart thing and wait for the sounds of battle to die down before making his way over. He didn't know how long he waited, but the sounds of battle finally died down into nothing. He then cautiously left the building and started making his way over to the square, where hopefully his savior awaited.

Along the way, he found where he tripped and found the gun magazine lying on the ground. He picked it up, brushed off some dirt from it, and put it in the rifle. And then he took it out and put it back in the right way. He then cocked back the charging handle, and nodded as it gave a satisfying _cla-click_ after chambering a round. He felt like a badass for a moment, before taking a step forward and falling flat on his face because he tripped on his shoelace

Slowly trekking his way down the street, he eventually arrived at the square. "Hello?" He called out while looking around, but saw no one. "Anyone?" Where did she go? Was she killed? No, then there would be a body and the Grimm would still be around. Frantically looking around the square, and doing his best to not look at the crashed ships and the dead that surrounded them, he was about to call out again when something to his left caught his eye.

It was a motorcycle with a blue metal finish. The front windshield was cracked and it was covered in warps, dents, and scratched paint. In addition, it was covered in brick and dust, but the debris on top of it looked like they were there for a while, so this couldn't have belonged to the huntress. Something told him that the motorcycle was still usable, that he could use it to escape.

He put the rifle's strap over his shoulder and went to clean the debris off the bike. "Huh… well, you don't look so bad," Jaune muttered to himself. He then heaved the bike up right, taking a moment to admire it and then hopped over it and sat on the seat.

"Alright… here's the brake, that's the ignition, e-brake, throttle, speedometer. Man it's a good thing I watched that Spruce Willis movie a hundred times or I wouldn't know what I'm doing." Jaune took what knowledge he had and put his hands on the ignition which thankfully had a key in it.

"Please work," Jaune whispered with closed eyes. "Please for the love of Oum work." He tried once and he got nothing. He tried again and the engine roared to life. "Haha, yes! Thank you!" Jaune shouted in excitement.

His celebration was cut short when he heard growling behind him. "Uh oh," turning around he saw four Beowolfs moving towards him. "Alright time to go!" He gripped the handlebars and accelerated forward down the street as the Grimm gave chase, completely unaware of the motorcycle's true being.

* * *

 **A/N** : _So Arcee and Jaune are now together, but they're not out of the woods yet._

 _Also transformers do in fact inhale and exhale air to cool their systems down (like breathing). I didn't believe at first until Cyberleader2000 pointed it out on the wiki._

 _So what did you guys think? Like it? Hate it? Think something can be improved? Want to give me a moral boost? Leave a review, all criticism is welcomed._

 _And special thanks to Cyberleader2000 and Austin Ga Kill for beta-ing._

 _Thanks again for reading. Have a good day :)_


	4. Man Down

**A/N** : _I honestly couldn't think of a good title for this chapter :/_

 _But anyway, here's chapter 4. I hope you enjoy it :)_

* * *

"Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!" Jaune panicked as he drove down the road. He was afraid of going too fast since the road was covered in debris, which he had to swerve around to avoid. One wrong move and he would crash and be at the mercy of the Beowolves giving chase. He wasn't going fast enough to outrun them, but not slow enough for them to catch up.

He was honestly surprised he hadn't crashed yet. Just from the action movies he watched, driving a motorcycle looked like it was a lot harder than it actually was.

Jaune noticed that after this one barricade, the road ahead was clear. He swerved past it and released a breath he didn't know he was holding. He twisted the throttle and propelled forward, taking a moment to look behind him at the shrinking Grimm forms.

"Ha ha ha! See ya suckers!" He cheered with a smile as he got further and further away from them. He had to squint his eyes because of the wind, but he didn't care. He was gonna survive. He was going to make it home. He was going to see his family again.

Ahead of him, he saw some Ursa on the road. He banked hard right at the intersection to avoid them. A second later, he gasped and slammed on the brakes and turned to the left. He just barely dodged a jersey barrier on the road. He looked back in disbelief as the rest of the Grimm rounded the street corners, unable to catch up to him. He turned back to the road as he picked up speed.

A smile formed on his face as he quickly threw his fist in the air in celebration. He still couldn't believe he was getting away, on a motorcycle no less. He didn't think he would've been this good at driving a motorcycle.

Unbeknownst to Jaune, most of his 'good' driving skills and quick reaction time was actually due to the assistance of a certain robot in disguise. If Arcee didn't assist him, he would have crashed and been killed a while ago. She had to help him with his speed control, balance, and even his turning. But she was so subtle with it that he didn't notice, or he was too focused on driving and the Grimm to notice.

With the roars of the Grimm slowly fading behind him, Jaune eventually reached the edge of the town. He kept driving straight and into the forest. He wanted to get as far away from the Grimm infested town as possible.

Jaune drove at a moderate pace through the thick forest for some time. Eventually, he made it to a clearing by the ocean and a rocky cliff. He stopped by a tree near the water and took several moments to catch his breath and look around at his surroundings.

"I… I… I have no idea where I am," he finally breathed out. "I did not think this through." He lowered his head down to the handle bars and closed his eyes. "Oh god, I'm an idiot."

In his rush to escape, he was focused on getting out and as far away from Rorke's Drift as he could. He didn't consider the fact that he didn't know the layout of the land, didn't know how far or in which direction the nearest town was, or even what direction he entered the town from.

Jaune let out a heavy sigh and lifted his head back up. He then realized just how heavy his eyes felt as he struggled to open them. These past two days, especially the last few hours, have been very stressful and tiring for him, especially since he barely slept. The threat of Grimm ripping you apart at any moment made it hard to fall asleep.

Jaune blinked and looked around, eyeing a peculiar tree close to him. "Alright," Jaune mumbled to himself as he dismounted and pushed the bike next to the tree. He then used the bike to help him climb up to a branch. "Nothing wrong with a little power nap in a tree I suppose." He climbed up two more branches, almost falling off of one until he reached a very large branch that he could sit on.

He hopped up and leaned his back against the trunk, he made sure his rifle was securely strapped to his body he closed his eyes as he let sleep overtake him.

Arcee waited several moments to make sure he was asleep before slowly transforming into her bipedal mode. She took a moment to look up at the organic sparkling resting just above her head in what she now knew was called a tree.

She took a moment to look around the area and make sure none of those monsters were nearby. She remembered how loud their footsteps were if one was coming she'd hear it. For now, the little yellow furred boy was safe. She turned around and started to walk to the rocky cliff by the water.

By luck would have, Jaune had driven to where Arcee's ship had crashed. She figured that now would be a good time to refill on energon since she didn't know when she'd get another chance to. She carefully scaled the cliffside and stepped onto the lowered ramp before entering the shuttle.

The Sun was now low enough to light up the inside of the shuttle, giving Arcee a better view at how damaged and trashed it was. But she didn't pay much mind to it. She made a beeline to the two crates of energon. They were both wide and tall, which meant they should have a lot of energon in them… assuming they were both filled.

Arcee approached one of the crates, disabled the lock, and carefully took the lid off. She smiled as the color blue radiated from within. Primus must have been looking upon her. The crate was jammed packed with energon cubes. There was enough here to last her for five planetary orbits, maybe more, assuming this world's orbital path and speed around its star is similar to Cybertron's.

She walked over and opened the next crate and opened it after disabling the lock. She sighed in disappointment. The crate wasn't even a third of the way filled with energon. There were smaller boxes on one side of the crate. She reached in and opened one, revealing packed together pink energon rations.

Unlike the cubes, energon rations were processed into smaller bars that are carried by Autobots and Decepticons alike consumed on the battlefield when energon cubes are unavailable. Practical, but the rations are of lower quality. They will only refill your energon reserves, while the cubes will also heal any and all damages one has sustained.

"Actually," Arcee pondered for a moment, "that might be useful for now." She grabbed a pack of rations and closed the box followed by locking the two crates. She then hopped up on one and started eating the ration pack one bar at a time.

She reasoned that if she consumed a cube, her damaged body would have been healed in no time. This normally wouldn't have been a problem in the slightest, but it was because of the organic sparkling. The sparkling already saw and commented on how damaged she was. If he woke up and saw her practically good as new, that would raise suspension, which was something she didn't need right now.

After consuming the fifth and last bar, Arcee to a moment to close her optics and smile, enjoying the sensation of fresh energon flowing through her servos. It felt like ages since she last felt fully recharged. It probably has been ages depending on how long she was in stasis.

After a few more moments, she jumped down from the crate, took a pack of energon rations and packed them in a sotrage compartment, and walked towards the exit. After scaling the cliffside once again, she transformed and leaned her alt-form against the tree like she was before, staying vigilant in case more of those monsters came along.

During the waiting, another thought came to her mind. Arcee had known that the shuttle wouldn't space worthy, but after seeing the full extent of the damage, she realized the shuttle was probably only good for scrap now. She didn't have a way off of this world. Unless this world had ways of space travel, she was stuck here.

That was just one of her problems. But she would have to worry about them later. For now, she had to make sure the boy got to safety, then she could worry about finding out more about this world.

* * *

"Squads one and four, watch those alleyways!" Lieutenant Schwarz William Lennox of the Atlas Military shouted over the gunfire to one of the squads under his command as they advanced down the road in Rorke's Drift. "Squad five, watch the rooftops! Two and three, put some more space between you and the mechs!"

"Yes sir!" They all shouted in acknowledgment. Lennox took aim up front and opened fire on a pack of Beowolves. They tore one of the Atlesian Knight 133 mechs apart, but they all quickly fell to the concentrated gunfire. He wiped sweat from his forehead and reloaded his rifle.

"Sir, on the roof!" One of his soldiers pointed up. Lennox looked up to see a half of a Beowulf fly off and land in the street. Atlas specialist Winter Schnee then appeared on the roof.

"Lieutenant Lennox," she called out, "the rest of the specialist have the roofs and alleyways cleared of all Grimm! We'll cover your platoon's flanks! The rest of our forces and the Valean militia should be near the main square by now!"

"Thank you!" He gave the specialist a thumbs up. "Alright men, specialist have our flanks, concentrate on the road and meet the other platoons in the square, just as planned. Advance!"

Just half an hour ago, an Atlas Military company, Vale's militia, huntsmen, and huntresses arrived at Rorke's Drift to retake it from the Grimm. Their battle plan consisted of deploying their forces at multiple places around the town and clear it as they all moved to the center square. Large armed groups would take formation with the 133 mechs on point while the specialists, huntsmen, and huntresses took the alleyways, roofs, and jumped in to help deal with large groups, all while bullheads flew above and provided supporting fire while also flying medivac and casevac flights.

So far, the assault was going well. Lennox and his team have made good headway, keeping a fast pace into the town while only suffering mech loses. He could only hope that the other teams were as lucky.

"RAAAAGH!" The Ursa Lennox was aiming at suddenly had its head cut off. He quickly saw that it was because of a blonde haired huntress in training, Joan Arc. She was actually on one of the last evac airships out of here, and immediately tagged along with the counter attack force.

He and many of the soldiers were against her joining, she was too young and as seen now too reckless. But then Winter allowed her in when she mentioned something about a brother. He didn't hear the conversation clearly and it wasn't important enough for him to argue.

Several more minutes passed and many more Grimm were slain before Lennox and his team made it to the square. There, he and his team joined the others as the boxed in the remaining Grimm. They didn't last long and were soon wiped out by bullet and blade.

They didn't have much time to celebrate as they were immediately assigned to perimeter duty. His platoon spread out on the edge of town where they entered. He was stuck next to Joan, who was very fidgety for some reason.

"Lieutenant," Lennox turned around to see Winter Schnee and two other huntsmen approaching him. "We have new orders. We're to take one of your squads and clear the forest to the east, you and the rest are to wait for reinforcements to relieve you."

"I thought that was to be the second wave's job. What changed?" Lennox asked.

"There were far too few Grimm here in the town than according to civilian testimony and reports from the troopers here before us. Command thinks most of them left for the woods. We're to help thin their numbers for the reinforcements."

"Yes ma'am. Squad four, fall in!" He called out with a hand motion.

"Specialist," Joan approached her. "I saw you head near the crashed airships in the square. D… did you-"

"Miss Arc, I have good news and bad news. Bad news is that everyone at the ships were dead," Winter said. Lennox couldn't help but noticed how crushed Joan looked at the news. "However, none of the bodies matched the description of your brother." Joan sighed in relief and rubbed her hands down her face. "He's most likely hiding in one of the buildings or in the forest. If he's still alive, we'll find him."

"You said you were going out there right? Take me with you. Please." Joan pleaded desperately. Winter nodded at her as squad four arrived. "Thank you," she whispered out.

"Alright everyone, our objective is to do a sweep of the forest east of town. We're to kill every Grimm we find and rescue any survivors. Move out." Winter ordered the saluting soldiers.

* * *

Arcee looked up and noticed that the boy was waking up. He let out a long breath and stretched his arms around. He looked around before tossing the gun down and positioning himself to climb down. He was doing well, but at the second branch his grip faltered and he fell on his back on the ground.

"Oww…." he groaned from the ground. Arcee winched, that looked like it hurt. He then slowly got back up and grabbed the rifle. He stopped just in front of her and eyed her closely. "Huh… could have sworn you were facing the other way. Arcee almost inwardly panicked until he spoke again. "Eh, must just 'member it differently," he mumbled while rubbing his head.

Relief welled up within Arcee. How did she not notice a small detail like which direction she was facing? She would have to pay more attention to stuff like that and be more careful. Others of these creatures could be more perceptive and call it out.

"Well, better stop wasting time," the boy said as he mounted her. She revved the engines as he turned the throttle. He turned them around and the once again were trekking through the forest.

Not that they weren't traveling at a reasonable pace, Arcee wished that the boy would go a little faster. She wasn't complaining in the slightest, she could understand why, recalling the boy's mopping from earlier. They didn't know where they were or going so he was taking caution. Better that than drive and slam straight into a tree.

In addition, Arcee was enjoying the peace and quiet. The revving of the engine did nothing to disturb the sound of the wind swaying the green things from the trees back and forth, with the star light flicking as they moved.

The boy seemed to be enjoying the sights as well, taking a few moments to look up and enjoy the view, unaware that she was helping him keep balance over the uneven ground while he did. Arcee was amazed that despite the monsters and the destruction, this world still has beauty and tranquility. That was something you couldn't say about her home, Cybertron.

Suddenly the boy stopped the bike and perked up and something in the distance. Arcee heard it too. Rapid soft tacts with loud booms were heard echoing in the distance. Explosions and gunfire, a common hearing on Cybertron.

"...people," the boy said exactly what she was thinking. "Holy crap, those are huntsmen!" A smile formed on his face as he revved up and speed towards the sounds of battle. Arcee was smiling as well. This was perfect. She could get the young boy to safety and see him off, maybe even see how this world's warriors, or 'huntsmen', work and fig-

"Woah!" The boy's shout made Arcee slam down her brakes just as he gripped the brake handle. They came to a complete stop just at the edge of a drop-off. The boy leaned over, giving Arcee a glance at the bottom as well. It looked like the drop was twice her height.

"Oh boy," the organic sparkling muttered after a whistle. "That would have been bad," he chuckled. Arcee didn't know how he could easily just laugh off almost dying. Maybe using humor was just a coping mechanism these creatures had, just like other Autobots back home. The boy then revved the engine and started to turn around.

They never saw it coming. One moment they had just finished turning around, the next one of those monsters swooped down and snatched the boy off of her and forced him violently into a nearby tree.

She transformed almost immediately, arm blades at the ready and already swiping at the black monster's long body. It screeched in pain and recoiled back. It stared at her for a moment and she got a good look at it. It had two elliptical red eyes and a bone plating in a pattern on its head. It had two long fangs and a twin pointed tongue. Its body looked like it was made of scales instead of hind like the others.

Arcee quickly glanced behind her to the small boy. His body was laying flat next to the tree, unmoving. Her eyes narrowed and glowed with rage as she charged the beast. When she crossed half the distance, she got blindsided from her left and was sent flying towards the drop down. Her body went off the edge but she quickly transformed her arms back gripped the ground to keep herself from falling down. She was about to hoist herself when another head came before her.

This one looked exactly like the first one, except it was white. It moved forward to strike but Arcee moved her arm quickly to dodge it as its fangs dug into the ground. She grabbed onto its head as it pulled back, dragging her with it. The beast must have predicted this, because the next thing she knew it wrapped its tube like body around her, restraining and crushing her body.

As she struggled to break free, she noted that the black headed and the white headed beast were one in the same, one head at each end of a tube like scaly body. The white head hissed as it slowly opened its mouth, ready to chomp down on her. But she was focused on the black head, which was slowly approaching the unconscious boy.

"No..." she gasped in fear. "No," she continued to struggle. "No," she struggled harder. "No!" She struggled even harder. "Get away from him!" She managed to get enough arm room to extend her left arm blade and transform her right arm into her blaster.

She slashed and cut against the scales, making the monster scream and recoil both of its heads, loosening its grip on her and giving her arms more room to maneuver. With no risk of self-harm, she opened fire, sending several energon blasts into its body before aiming up and firing several at its white head. It fell down to the ground, smoking and deformed.

Arcee rolled out of the way of its black head as it moved to strike her. When it came back around, she jabbed her blade through its neck, pinning it to the ground as she unloaded a dozen rounds into its head. Her kill was confirmed when the beast's body started evaporating into a black mist.

Wasting no time she immediately rushed over and kneeled next to the organic sparkling. She carefully turned him over to get a look at the damage. He was still alive, but barely. Red liquid leaked from his forehead, covering his eyes. His left hand was twitching and its breathing was heavy and wheezing in pain.

/

 _The alarms blared loudly within Incubation Housing Chamber 531-B, yet everything felt silent to Arcee as her arms rapidly shook, holding the dead sparkling's body close to her. It was her job to protect them, and she failed._

/

Arcee quickly but very gently picked the boy up. Holding him close, she started to sprint along the cliffside to try and find another way down. "Hold on," she said to his twitching body in his native tongue. "Just hold on. I'm going to get you help and then you'll be fine. You're going to be fine," she said with a cracking voice.

She didn't know if she was heading in the right direction to find him help, but she had to try.

No one else was going to die because of her. Not today.

* * *

 **A/N** : _So what did you guys think? Like it? Hate it? Think something can be improved? Want to give me a moral boost? Leave a review, all criticism is welcomed._

 _And special thanks to Cyberleader2000 and Austin Ga Kill for beta-ing._

 _Thanks again for reading. Have a good day :)_


	5. Help Arrives

**A/N** : _Well this took a little longer than expected. I'll explain why in the ending A/N._

 _So before we begin, I want to give a shout to the story 'Professor Shockwave' by 'KtyouVsWriting'. That's the story on this site that actually inspired me to make this. it's a really good story so I'd go and check it out._

 _Anyway, here's chapter 5. Enjoy!_

* * *

The Carnivac looking monster that was foolish enough to attack found itself crushed under Arcee's foot. She only took the briefest of glances to confirm the kill before taking off into a sprint, leaving the disintegrating corpse behind. These few smaller monsters weren't a problem for Arcee. She was literally able to defeat them without using her hands. But that didn't stop Arcee from panicking.

The boy had stopped twitching now. His wheezing breath, along with the occasional pained moan, was the only indication that he was still alive. That red liquid still stained his body as it slowly leaked out of him. Arcee had guessed that this red liquid was for these creatures as energon for Cybertronians: he needs it to live. Without it, he dies. But how much could he afford to lose and still be fine? She didn't know.

"Damn it," she looked around as she continued running. She didn't even know where she was going. She could have taken him back to the ship, but then what? She didn't know their biology. Anything she could have done would have only made it worse. That was assuming she even had anything on the shuttle that could help him at all, which she knew for a fact she wouldn't.

She felt the boy stir in her arms. She slowed her running and looked down. His red stained face was scrunching up as if trying to see through the liquid. Parts of his body started to move slowly. It looked as though they were subconsciously reacting to pain. He was saying something under his breath. But thanks accidentally downloading their language earlier, she could tell it was incomprehensible muttering.

"Shhh," Arcee cooed as she tried to calm him down and stop moving before he accidentally made his injuries worse. "Shhh, you are going to be ok," she said softly as she brushed her finger against the top of his head as gently as she could. "You are going to be fine. Everything is going to be ok. Just rest and fall asleep, and when you come back you'll be as good as new. Just rest, please." This worked, as moments later he stopped moving. He still had a wheezing breath, but at least his injuries wouldn't get worse.

It pained Arcee to say those words to him. She heard Ratchet, Red Alert, and even Minerva say similar things to other Autobots on the field and in medical centers. They usually said it to Autobots too critically injured, who had little chance of survival. It was a final way to try and ease the pain. A lie of false hope. She hoped that her telling the boy he'd be ok wouldn't end up being a lie as well.

She had a plan. It was vague and she didn't have complete faith in it, but it was something. So many things on this planet were similar to how things were on Cybertron. From how these creatures looked, to their transportation machines, to how their towns were constructed. By that logic, the town they were at should have a main road that connects to another town, just like on Cybertron.

This was not a major city, so there had to be a road connecting it to another for supply runs. Plus, the attack on that town looked like it happened recently. So theoretically there should be a town down the road that wasn't attacked by these monsters. A town where she could get the boy help. It was all in speculation, but it was her only hope.

A roar behind her caught her attention. She looked behind and saw another one of those Carnivac beasts gaining on her. She quickly stopped and turned around, catching the beast off guard as she punted it off into the forest from where it came.

The beast catching up to her made Arcee realize something. She wasn't moving fast enough running. An idea came to her mind a moment later. "Would that work?" she wondered aloud. "It could possibly hurt him but-" The boy unconsciously moaned and squirmed a little in her arms. "... it's worth the risk."

Very carefully and slowly, Arcee transformed into her alt mode. Her arms remained as they would in her bipedal mode while the rest of her body shifted. Her arms normally would have made up what was the seats of her alt-mode, but now they were holding the boy. It wasn't the most comfortable thing, but it would keep him steady while she traveled in her alt-mode.

As she expected, she was able to travel much faster. But the joy was soon replaced with distress. Soon the area of trees became more and more concentrated and she had to slow down to swivel side to side to avoid them. Plus the boy's limbs were swaying around with each turn.

"Blast," she cursed under her breath. "I can run faster around these things and keep him more stable in my other form. Ah well, it was good while it lasted." She was about to transform back and start running, but she entered a clearing and immediately the heads of several of those larger monsters turned towards her.

"Oh… SLAG!" Arcee's wheels screeched as she braked and turned around. Her escape was cut off by one of the monsters as they all roared angrily at her. She backed up and just barely avoided a paw crashing down into the ground in front of her. The rest charged her and she did her best to keep the boy safe as she dodged every attack that came her way. "Oh no..." but she soon found herself backed up against a large tree, surrounded by the howling and growling monsters.

She was afraid that if she transformed they could get close enough during the process and the boy could be killed. "Blast it… I don't know what to do," she admitted out loud, as much as it pained her to do so. Her mind raced with dozens of thoughts, trying to find a way out as the monsters closed in.

"We have a gathering of Ursa over here!" Everyone's attention turned to the direction of the new voice. A small sparkly of hope welled up inside of her. That was the same language of-

"I see'em!" Another voice shouted, this one more feminine and interrupting Arcee's thoughts. "Waste them!" The air was suddenly filled with the cracks of fully automatic gunfire and the sounds of metal blades against flesh. The black beasts, or 'Ursa' as she heard them called, turned their attention away from herself and the boy and towards the new arrivals.

Arcee still couldn't believe what luck she just had. Was Primus watching over her? What were the odds that she'd run into a patrol of those creatures? This was perfect! She could leave him with them and…

And what, leave? She could, but if they saw her? A vehicle that needed a driver to move that was seen moving without a driver would look suspicious. If they spotted her they could investigate. The last thing she wanted right now was attention on her true form.

But more importantly, the creatures haven't reached them yet. If she left now, the boy would be exposed, and if one of those Ursa came back they could kill him easily. She would not allow that. Instead, she put the boy down gently on the ground and shifted her arms so she was fully in her alt mode. She leaned down over, but not on him, and waited.

The sound of gunfire and blades remained constant while the roars of the Ursa were dying off very quickly. Three Ursa came into her field of view, one being pushed back and the other two running away. Two more of those creatures immediately gave chase. One had white fur on her head, matching white clothes, and a feminine look. The other had a more masculine build and had the same uniform and weapon as the dead soldiers in the town.

Then, one of the strangest thing Arcee has ever scene happened.

The female drew out a sword with a handle guard and lunged forward. A strange holograph with some kind of hieroglyph appeared seemingly out of nowhere underneath her and propelled her forward. She flew past the two fleeing Ursa, landing blows and cutting their flesh as she passed. Another hologram appeared before her in mid air, allowing her to bounce off and head back to the Ursa, slicing them up. This repeated a few more times until the Ursa were nothing more than torn pieces of decaying flesh.

As more of the soldiers ran up with their rifles drawn and shot the other Ursa dead, Arcee was at a loss for words. What did she just see? It was obviously some kind of power she had, but so many questions entered her mind. What exactly was that? How do they activate and use it? Why didn't those other soldiers use that power? Could only certain individuals use that power? Did the power pertain to status or skill?

"Specialist, there's a motorcycle by that tree," one of the soldiers called out to the girl with the power while pointing towards her.

'Motorcycle,' Arcee repeated the word in her head. 'So that's what my vehicle is called.'

"There's someone underneath it!" The power girl called out. "Squad, perimeter! Medic, on me!" She barked out orders and the squad obeyed. More soldiers, bring the total up to six, ran up and took positions around them, making a perimeter while one soldier ran up to her with the specialist. He had a red cross painted on his helmet, exactly like the medics did back on Cybertron.

The medic ran up and crouched down next to the boy. He moved Arcee to the side, put a metal case down next to him, and started examining him. The specialist came up behind him moments later. She slightly grimaced at the boy's condition. "Corpsman, how bad is he?" she asked with concern.

"Looks bad, but I can't say for sure just yet," he replied as he took two vials out of his metal case. "I need to inject him with morphine and antibiotics before I examine him."

Arcee made a mental note to look the terms 'morphine' and 'antibiotic' when she could. While she didn't know what they were, she took comfort that this medic knew what he was doing. The boy was in good hands. He would be ok. As the medic injected the materials into him, the specialist's attention was drawn elsewhere. Arcee followed her gaze.

Off to the side, there was another person slowly walking towards them, peaking at what the specialist and the medic were doing. She looked young compared to the others and had the same color fur and eyes as the boy did. She wondered if they had some sort of connection. Her suspicions were confirmed when the young girl's eyes widened when she laid her eyes on the boy.

"J-Jaune?" She said with a croaking voice. As she got closer. "Jaune!" She cried as she ran towards. The specialist got in her way and stopped her.

"Joan, wait!" The specialist said to the girl as she held her back. "Stop."

"Please!" Joan cried again as she struggled to get past her. "You don't understand! I need to see him! I need to see if he's ok!"

"Joan, I know exactly what you're going through," the specialist said. "I'm an older sister too." At this Joan stopped and looked at her and Arcee's curiosity grew. "I have a younger sister," she started to speak more softly. "She's no older than your brother is. I love her and there's nothing in the world I wouldn't do for her." The specialist took her arms off of Joan. "We don't know how badly he's hurt. If you went to him like you did you could have hurt him."

"I..." Joan took one last glance at her brother, the boy who she now knew was named Jaune, before looking back at the specialist. "Yeah," she whispered out with a nod. "S-sorry."

"Don't apologize for caring for your little brother, but don't let your emotions take too much control of your actions. I've seen that become the downfall of too many people."

Arcee continued to listen and could help but be intrigued by the conversation, mainly at the mention of the words 'brother' and 'sister'. Brother and sister were terms also used back on Cybertron. To be called one of them meant that either you were born in the same group with them in an incubation chamber, or you had such a strong bond with them that you became family.

Arcee didn't remember anyone from her incubation chamber. Her family was her fellow Autobot she fought with on Cybertron against the Decepticons. Many of whom weren't alive anymore or she hadn't heard from in a while. Regardless, knowing that these creatures shared a very similar view of family filled her with a small ting of happiness and hope.

"Specialist Schnee," the medic called over.

"Medic, how bad is he?" The specialist, who Arcee now knew was named Schnee, asked with concern as she walked up, while Joan looked over Jaune with worry.

"Externally, he looks worse than he actually is. Wipe the blood off and bandage the cuts and he'll be fine" he replied as he put some vials in a waste bag in his case. "Internally is another story. His left arm is broken, the cut on his head indicates a concussion, and how his body reacted indicated that his ribs are bruised, to what extent I can't say. There's also the possibility of internal bleeding but I don't have the equipment for that."

Arcee winced when she saw Joan's twist with concern, collapsing and gripping Jaune's right hand in both of her hands, muttering something that she couldn't hear. While Arcee didn't understand what each part was, she could understand that Jaune's injuries were serious.

"Those kind of injuries on a civilian?" Specialist Schnee said with concern and amazement as she took a device out of her pocket. It was a thin white slab that extended into a rectangle. Arcee immediately recognized that it was another the same device she found in the town. "Rorke's Drift F.O.B. come in, this is Specialist Schnee," She said to the decisive as she walked away.

'Communication devices...' Arcee thought. 'But then how was I able to download their language? Unless it's a multi-purpose piece of equipment.'

"Medic," Joan abruptly and loudly said, taking Arcee out of her thoughts. "How is he? I-is he going to be ok?"

"Honestly ma'am, it all depends if he has internal bleeding or not. If he doesn't then he'll last a while, if he does-"

"Command, we have a critically injured adolescent here! We need that medivac! There has to be something available!" Schnee's shouted at the scroll, gaining the three's attention for a moment.

"...if he does have internal bleeding then he won't last long unless we airlift him out. But, that doesn't seem to be likely," the medic explained.

'WHAT!' Arcee shouted internal, almost letting it slip out. 'No no no no no! There has to be another way!'

"Aura!" Joan shouted. "What if I unlocked his aura? Will that save him?"

'Aura?'

"That could work," he said as he looks at a display on his own rectangle device, "but you and Specialty Schnee are in the orange, you're close to red. You might not have enough left to unlock his. If your aura gives out while trying to-"

"I don't care about me! Will it save him?!" She shouted again, her voice cracking slightly and putting much emphasis on 'him'.

The medic reeled back at her outburst. "... you can," he said as he scooted over away from Jaune. "But I would like to say again-"

"I don't care," she said quickly as she scooted closer to her brother's head. She gripped it with both hands and closed her eyes. "For it is in our good deeds that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become an icon, an idol for all those younger than us to follow. Infinite in morality and unbound by evil, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, pass the mantle to thee."

As soon as she finished speaking, before Arcee could even begin to think about what was happening, Joan's body started to glow. It spread to Jaune and he too started to glow. The phenomenon lasted for several seconds. As soon as the glow was gone, Joan recoiled back slightly, grabbing her chest as she gasped for breath.

There were two beeping sounds, one coming from the medic's device. "That's it, your aura reserves are basically none existent. But it worked. Look." The medic pointed to the cut on Jaune's forehead. It was healing at an astonishing rate. "Aura's already working, rather quickly too."

"Oh thank god," Joan wheezed out with a smile.

Meanwhile, Arcee was once again at a complete loss for words. She couldn't comprehend what she just saw. She was glad that the boy would live and be ok, but nothing could heal wounds that fast! A healing regeneration power of that scale was something even the best scientists on Cybertron struggled to even come up with a basic concept of.

Whatever this 'aura' was, she needed to unlock its secrets, learn everything there is to know about it. If it could heal Jaune's injuries and stable him that quickly… the good that can be done with it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

"A low aura alert on my scroll went off," Specialist Schnee said as she quickly walked up to them, holding her rectangle device in her hand. "What happened?"

'Scroll.' Arcee repeated in her head. At least she now knew what those were called.

"Joan used what was left of her aura to unlock his," the medic explained while motioning between the two of them.

"I see," She looked towards Joan and Arcee noticed that the Schnee's eyes showed a hint pride and respect, and the corner of her lips turned up by the ever slightest margin. It disappeared as soon as she turned back to the medic. "How is his condition now? Will he be fine until a medivac arrives?"

"That would depend, when can we get a medevac for him?" The medic asked as he stood up.

"All air support is preoccupied and unable to help us. I'm not sure when we'll get a medevac for him," she answered honestly with a less than pleased expression. Arcee knew the feeling. Not getting air support when you needed most on the Cybertronian battlefield usually ended in catastrophe and many lost lives.

"I was afraid of that. With his bruised ribs I'm assuming he also has internal bleeding. I'm assuming the worst so I don't want to risk waiting for medevac if the internal bleeding could be bad enough to kill him before it even shows up."

"Damn it," Schnee cursed as Arcee thought the same thing. "There has to..." Schnee paused as she glanced downwards, towards Arcee. Joan and the medic followed her gaze. Arcee understood immediately what the specialist was thinking.

"Trooper! I need your climbing gear!" The specialist called out behind her. The trooper ran over as Joan and the medic stood Arcee up right on her kickstand. "Help me get the boy tied on and secured."

The spent the next minute gently lifting and placing the boy flat on the motorcycle's seat and securing him in place with the trooper's rope. One secured his legs while the other two were tied around his chest.

"Ok," The specialist wrapped her right arm around him. With one hand she gripped her sword and the left handlebar. "With Joan's aura down there isn't much else we can do out here. Pull back to the F.O.B. and I'll meet you there. Take no necessary risk," she ordered her troops and Joan.

"Yes Ma'am," they all responded. The specialist then summoned another hologram glyph below her and throttled the left handlebar. Arcee revved up the engine, despite the throttle being on the right, and accelerated forward. The glyphs allowed Specialist Schnee to glide along the ground next to her with ease a she guided them through the forest. Arcee hoped that they wouldn't encounter anymore trouble, especially those monsters, along they way. For Jaune's sake, they couldn't afford anymore delays.

* * *

 **A/N** : _So in addition to being backlogged on stuff, I actually wrote 2 different versions. One where Jaune lived and one where he died. For some reason my brain decided that potentially going a route where Jaune died and the pairing would be replaced with Joan was a good idea. Needless to say I went "Brain, that idea is stupid, no."_

But for some reason I still wrote the alternate version. IDK why though.

 _Shoutouts to_ _Auron215 for betaing and Cyerleader2000 for betaing and being my go-to-nerd for Transformers facts and continuity checking._

 _Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a good day :)_


	6. Escape and Recovery

**A/N** : _I swear when ever you upload something to the site's doc manager it always messes things up. Whether it be changing words or deleting them entirely. My usual beta catches these but he couldn't beta this effectively because of irl stuff. So I apologize for any mistakes and will try going over the chapter and correcting them later._

 _Anyway, here's chapter six. Enjoy_

* * *

The sky was turning a hue of orange as the sun was starting to set on the horizon. Arcee, who carrying Jaune and being steered by Winter, burst through the tree line and Arcee saw that they were close and rapidly approaching the same town where she found Jaune. They were up on a hill so she could see further into the town.

With the higher ground, she had an easier time seeing the scale of the destruction those monsters brought. It sadly reminded of the devastated areas of Cybertron. She was probably light years away from her home, yet the death and destruction was still the same. She guessed some things never change.

Above the town, she could see several ships flying around. She could make out slight differences in their designs, they all shared a similar bi-winged design, similar to the one she saw crashed that was full of-

 _ **VRRRRRROOOOOOOSH**_

Arcee almost inwardly panicked, but it was Specialist Schnee's nonchalant manner at which she glanced up that told her it was fine. Two of those ships flew overhead from their side. ' _They even sound like the 'cons too,_ ' Arcee thought. ' _Hate those things._ '

They soon reached a dirt road and entered the town through a guarded entrance. Arcee then slowed down a little bit as Winter turned twisted the handlebar. She twisted the wrong one but Arcee needed to keep up the disguise. As they drove down the road, it was hard for Arcee not to noticed the increased activity.

There were a lot more of these creatures around now. She concluded that it wasn't just a random patrol she ran into, but a full military force that came to retake the town. Many of those armored soldiers and similarly sized mechs marched and jogged to and fro along the side of the road.

Arcee also noticed that there were a few other individuals. They were less armored than the regular soldiers, but they had more color to them and seemed to wield less conventional weapons. Some we so large that she wondered how they effectively wielded them, while others were so small that if she didn't see the Specialist's power with that thin sword earlier she would have thought them worthless.

It just raised more questions. Were they all like the Schnee and Joan? Did they have special abilities as well? No matter if they did or not, seeing the creature's military might like this put Arcee at ease. While those monsters had definitely won the battle and killed many of the organics earlier, these creatures did have the capability to fight back and stand tall against such evil, just like her fellow Autobots back on Cybertron.

Cybertron… Arcee's thoughts raced as they turned back to her situation and she wondered what was happening back home. How long was she in stasis on the ship? Solar cycles? Mega Cycles? Stellar Cycles? Millenia? If she was out that long… was the war still going on? Were the Autobots still holding their ground?

Were her friends still alive?

Arcee was thankfully drawn out of negative thoughts as they turned and she was able to see into a square straight ahead. Arcee recognized it as the town square she fought the horde of monsters and found Jaune in. Off to the side by the downed ships, the fire was put out and some of those creature soldiers were moving the bodies of the dead.

There were putting them in black bags and putting next to each other in rows. There were a lot of black bags, some smaller than others, stacked up in rows. These creatures took many casualties, sparklings included.

Before Arcee could think further, they entered the town square and stopped. To her right, she and the Specialist saw several more of those ships. These ones had big red crosses on them, just like the medic from earlier. These were the medivac ships. But, most of the ships have already taken off and were flying away. The others were just preparing to or were in the process of taking off.

"Crap," Specialist Schnee muttered. She gripped the handlebars tighter and twisted them hard. The engines revved up as Arcee accelerated faster than she should have, but if the medical ships left now, who knows when the next ones will come? Who knew if Jaune would last that long, even with this 'aura'?

"Hey, wait!" She called but got no response, not even a soldier on the as the ships still lifted up. "Damn it!" The Specialist glanced at Jaune's unconscious for a moment, she then let out a breath and gritted her.

Arcee suddenly felt some kind of sensation below her. She didn't know how to describe it, but she somehow felt lighter than before. She then realized that the Schnee's holographic glyph grew in size so they both were on top of it, or she summoned a new larger one altogether.

' _Wait a cycle..._ ' Arcee thought as she remembered something from earlier. ' _She used those glyphs to jump around earlier and- wait… she's not actually considering doing that now, is she?! Primus please tell me she's not that insane!_ '

As they speed forward, a trooper in the closest ship noticed them. His head rose up slightly and he turned towards the inside of the ship, shouting while pointing his hand behind him and towards them. The ship then paused before it slowly started to decende.

Arcee would have been happy that the medevac was coming back, but she noticed that Schnee didn't make any moves to stop. Instead, the glyph glowed brighter for a moment and the Specialist gripped jaune tighter. Not even a moment later, they were suddenly launched into the air.

' _BY THE ALLSPARK SPARK, THIS WOMAN IS CRAZY!_ ' Arcee internally shouted. Did the Specialist not even consider the possibility that the impact against the ship could hurt Jaune even more, or the possibility that they could miss the ship entirely?! Even Hotshot would have considered this reckless, and he was one of the most reckless Autobots early in his career!

The Specialist moved her sword forward and another glyph appeared. They passed right through it and it seemed to propel them forward with more speed. The soldier near the ramp shouted something and jumped back. Arcee braced for impact. But then suddenly several glyphs stacked on top of one another appeared on the ramp below them just over a second before they landed.

As they fell through the first few glyphs, their speed decreased drastically. It wasn't sudden or jerky, or even forceful. It felt natural and slow, yet it wasn't. They then landed softly on the ramp. ' _Huh, I guess I misjudged her,_ ' Arcee thought. Though she still disagreed with the action, especially with Jaune in his current condition, she couldn't deny that it worked out ok in the end.

They then moved inside the ship and the ramp closed behind them. Inside there were four soldiers lying down and strapped securely on what looked like medical beds. They had white cloths wrapped around parts of their bodies, and tubes with fluid filled bags on top of poles connected to their arms.

There were also three soldiers with red crosses on their armor, looking at them. She couldn't the top half of their faces, but their agape mouths showed that they had trouble processing what just happened.

"S-...Specialist Schnee?" The closest medic said as he looked from the closed ramp to the Specialist. "Wha- where did y-..." he stopped when he and the other medics noticed the boy strapped to the motorcycle.

"He's wounded badly," Schnee explained as she hopped off of the motorcycle and slashed the ropes with her sword. The closest medic rushed forward to help her gently lift the boy up, while the other two medics prepared a medical bed and got more of those fluid bags and tubes.

"Do you know how bad his injuries are?" The one medic grunted as he and the Specialist placed Jaune on the medical bed

"Multiple lacerations, broken left arm, a concussion, bruised if not broken ribs, and our field medic said he could have internal bleeding," Winter explained as she fastened a strap on him.

"Alright," the first medic said as he secured the second strap. The second medic was tending to another soldier while the third medic rolled up the cloth on Jaune's left arm, rubbed an area of with a wet rag, and stuck a needle inside allowing the fluids from the bag to flow inside of him. "Antibiotics and painkillers should hold him for now, as should the bandages. Once we get to Outpost Gamma he'll be in good hands."

"Very well," Winter sat down and sighed in relief, with Arcee wishing she could to the same. "Thank you trooper."

"Just doing my job ma'am."

* * *

Four days. Joan had been waiting in the damned Atlas outpost for four days and she hated it.

Not that she wasn't unwelcomed or anything, far from it actually. As long as you didn't intentionally get in any of the soldiers' way you were good. Most of the staff were very friendly to her and others in the med center and they were kind enough to let her and others use guest rooms to stay in while their friends and family healed.

Joan sat at a table in the lobby and rested her head on her head as her thoughts turned to her younger brother. Jaune still hadn't woken up yet, and it was worrying her. The doctors and surgeons said that the worst he had were bruised ribs and the broken arm. Everything else would heal and he'd be up in a few days.

Or so they'd told her. He should have been up by now. All she knew was what the doctors told her. She couldn't see him while he was unconscious, something about being against Atlas military protocols, or something along those lines that she thought was bullshit.

Despite the doctor's reassurance, Joan's mind couldn't help but race with doubt and worry. Jaune was supposed to wake up by now, but didn't. The cut on his forehead was a nasty one that left him with a concussion. What if it was so bad that he wouldn't wake up at all? What if he would have to spend the rest of his life like this? What if he was going to be in constant pain and the only way to stop it was to pull the-

Joan gripped her aching head to try and stop these thoughts, but she couldn't help it.

"My fault," she whispered as she lowered her head. "It's all my fault." She continued to blame herself. But she had good reason to. Jaune wasn't even supposed to come here. She just wanted to visit some friends before she headed to Beacon. Jaune didn't have to come along to do his history paper, he could have done it just as fine at home. She used it as an excuse. She wanted to drag Jaune along to try and get him out a little bit more.

Her younger brother's life was secluded with comics, video games, and no real friends outside of the family. This got him bullied at school, no matter how much he denied it. Joan was exactly like him once too. It was how she always got along so well with him and why she always enjoyed being his player two. But as she continued her huntress training, she made friends and she found that she was happier with them. She thought that if she brought him along, made him get a feel for another town, that he'll like it and reach out more, maybe even make a friend or two and get out of his little shell.

Instead, things got out of control and now her brother was almost killed in a Grimm attack. All because she-

"Miss Joan Arc?" A voice called out in the lobby. Joan's head shot up to the voice's origin and saw a doctor tapping a pen on his scroll.

"Yes, that's me!" She got out of her chair and rushed over to him.

"Alright Miss Arc, standard procedure is that I have to escort you to Jaune's room," he said and Joan felt hope well up inside of her. "But," that hope almost shattered, "I have several other patients I need to tend to right now" He paused and looked around the room and the hallway behind him. "I know you've been here for four days and..." he took out a key card and held it up, "room 018. If anyone tries to stop you tell them I let you in."

"T-thank you," Joan nodded as she took the keycard. The doctor stepped to the side and she rushed past him. She ran and turned down the hall, keeping an eye out for the room numbers. Eventually she found room 018. She paused right outside the door, took in a deep breath, and swiped the card in the slot and opened the door.

She stepped inside, letting the door close behind her as she took in the site in front of her. She had been in a hospital room before when she got injured and when she visited dad when he did. The room didn't look too different except for a few changes. The room had a more white, polished shine to it, the monitors and equipment looked updated, and the window glass looked thicker and reinforced.

But she paid little mind to those. He attention was focused on the bed in the center of the room. More specifically, the person in the bed. Jaune was sitting up slouched forward. He had a white bandage on his head and his left arm was in a sling. His eyes looked a little tired, but otherwise he looked fine.

It was a contrast to the mental image of him she had for the past four days. Laying on the ground, beaten, bruised, bloody, dying…

Those thoughts ceased as Jaune turned towards her. It took a moment, but his eyes widened and a small smile grew on his face when he saw her. "Hey Joan," he said as he sat up straighter, "how are y-" he never got to finish his sentence as the older Arc sibling immediately crossed the distance and wrapped her arms tightly around her younger brother, though was still careful to watch his injured arm.

Jaune then wrapped his right arm around her and hugged her as tight as he could. Joan rested her chin on his shoulder. Her breathing became heavier as the tears she didn't know she was holding started to flow down her cheeks.

"Y-you're ok..." she managed to get out, rubbing one hand up and down Jaune's back. "You're ok." She held her brother as close as she could, afraid that if she let go she'd lose him. For a while the two of them sat there, feeling comfortable in their sibling's embrace.

"J-Joan?" Jaune said after several moments. "Thank you," Joan couldn't help but smile, "and… I'm sorry." Her smile dropped and she pulled away.

"What?" She looked at her brother dumbfounded. "W-what are you apologizing for?"

"For making you worry," he said. "I didn't mean to-"

"Jaune stop," she quickly demanded. "You… none of this is your fault. No one could have predicted-"

"Not that," Jaune interrupted. "I… I..." he shook his head, as if he didn't want to say it.

"Jaune, what's wrong?" She asked in a soft voice. "You can tell me. I promised that as your big sis I'll be there for you. So please, just tell me what's wrong."

Jaune hesitated for a moment before looking back at Joan, but he had trouble keeping eye contact. "Back at Rorke's Drift," Jaune started slowly, "when I fell out of the ship… I ran. I just ran away. I probably could have helped some people, but I didn't. I just ran away."

Joan started to think she thought she knew was eating at him. She wanted to speak but thought it was best to let him finish first.

"I… found a gun and then I hid in a building. But along the way, I… there were so many people in the streets. All their… all their bodies were just torn apart." His eyes started to water and Joan put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"Outside I could hear the Grimm coming closer and closer and… I-I couldn't stop thinking about those people. About how painful it all was and how the s-same thing was going to happen to m-me. I… I didn't want that to happen to me, but I couldn't see a way out. But... but then I remembered that Grimm don't go after the dead… and I was holding a gun."

Joan gasped. She honestly couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her brother was telling her that he wanted to… she stopped those thoughts. He may have thought about it, but he didn't do it. Obviously, because he was still here.

"I even thought about you guys," Jaune continued. "I kept thinking what would happen if I did, what you guys would think if I did and… despite all of that I..." he shook his head unable to find the words to continue.

"But you didn't," Joan said. "You didn't and that's what matters." She didn't want to hear any more.

"But I did." Those three words put the room in an uncomfortable silence before Jaune continued speaking. "Despite all of that, I was more afraid of what the Grimm would do to me. So I lifted the gun up and..." Jaune looked away in shame, leaving the roof in silence for several agonizing moments. "Somewhere when I was running I tripped and the magazine fell out. I didn't realize the gun was out of ammo until I… Joan I'm so sorry."

Joan didn't know what to do or say. Who would have in her situation? Her brother… her dorky, kind, one in a million, only brother, tried committing suicide. Thoughts raced through her head a mile a second. What felt like hours passed before she came to a conclusion: it was her fault.

Jaune wanted to kill himself because he was afraid of what the Grimm would do to him. He was in the town because he fell out of the transport they were on when it was hit. He was on the last transport with her because he didn't want to get on an earlier ship and leave without her. He was only in the town because she dragged him along in some asinine attempt to get him out a little more.

He went through so much because of her, yet he was the one apologizing.

Jaune opened his mouth to speak but stopped when Joan put two fingers on them, silencing him. "Shh," she cooed and then slowly pulled him into a hug, one arm around his back and another around his head. "Jaune its ok. You're still here. That's all that matters now." Jaune then wrapped his free arm around her and started to sob. Joan wished she could do more to help him, but she didn't know how.

Meanwhile, the same doctor who gave Joan the keycard waited outside of the room. He was about to walk in and give them a final rundown before discharging Jaune. But after hearing that, he figured they deserved at least a few minutes to themselves.

* * *

 **A/N** : _A little more dramatic then I had planned but I think it turned out well._

 _So what do you guys think? Good? Bad? Think something can be improved? Leave a review, all criticism is welcomed and I like to see how I'm doing._

 _And thank you to Cyberleader2000 and nomb8217 for giving this a lookover._

 _Thanks again for reading, have a good day :)_


	7. Arriving Home

**A/N:** _Yeah, I've been gone for a while, sorry about that. Life just got in the way._

 _Quick note, information about a poll that will be important for this story is in the bottom A/N._

 _Anyway, here's chapter 7. Enjoy :)_

* * *

Arcee had been waiting in this 'parking lot' for four of this planet's cycles now. This planet's rotational cycle was exactly if not very similar to the that of Cybertron's. Another similarity between this alien world and her home. It was an oddity that Arcee couldn't make sense of.

Though, fighting for survival against a seemingly never-ending enemy didn't really leave too much time to think about what alien civilizations would be like. Maybe the universe was just smaller than she thought. Besides, she had other matters to attend to.

She was in some kind of military base. The place was well guarded as soldiers and androids stood and walked by constantly and as more small ships flew overhead every now and then. It gave off a sense of invincibility and security from any threat.

But if their military was as powerful as it looked, that town wouldn't have fallen to begin with. Arcee knew that looks weren't everything. She could use any Decepticon city as an example. The Junkions could craft architectural masterpieces compared to those places, yet they had the most hardened defenses imaginable just be design alone.

Many good Autobots lost their lives in vain trying to take those places.

Her thoughts turned back to the situation at hand. She still had at minimum just above 80% of her energon reserves, but she felt like she couldn't wait much longer. She had a fear that someone might mistake her for a civilian vehicle and relocate her someplace else, where leaving could possibly be more complicated.

After they arrived, Jaune was taken to the medical building and she was parked in front of it. Knowing the boy was in good hands, she wanted to leave and find out more about the world and get back to the ship. But in addition to the heavy ground security, Arcee noticed what looked like cameras on the buildings and on some tall polls scattered about.

Even if she wasn't spotted, someone on the cams seeing a vehicle that needed someone to operate leave on its own would definitely raise questions and draw attention, something she did not need. Staying in the compound did have a silver lining though. As soldiers walked by and stood guard near her, she was able to overhear some of their conversations and pick up on certain pieces of information.

From what she could gather, the natives called their planet 'Remnant', a name she found rather odd. There were at least two places of authority, The Kingdoms of Atlas and Vale. Arcee couldn't figure out just what exactly a 'kingdom' was, but she was able to piece together that it was a ruling government body, like Cybertron had before the war started.

Another word mentioned a lot was 'Grimm'. From the context of the conversations between the soldiers, she deduced that it was the name of the monsters she fought at the town she now knew was called 'Rorke's Drift.' The name 'Grimm' was unsettling, but felt appropriate from what she saw. 'Beowulf' and 'Ursa' were also mentioned with 'Grimm'. She concluded that there were different types of Grimm, but she didn't know what was what. She made a mental note to find out when she could.

She also heard other things and phrases mentioned, but she could only wildly guess at what they meant, and she didn't want to assume things in case she was wrong. She'll have to find out what they were later.

"-st be mindful of your injuries and take it easy for the next few days and you'll be back to normal in no time." Arcee heard the specialist's voice come from around the building corner.

"Don't worry Winter, I'll make sure he's ok." Joan's voice echoed as Arcee heard multiple footsteps now. As Arcee saw them as the round the corner, her spark skipped a pulse when she saw Jaune with them. He had a small limp to his step, he has some white cloth wrapped around his left arm with a strap wrapped around his neck. He was leaning against Joan for support and his eyes looked a little darker.

But he also had a soft, small smile on his face, and the injuries on his head looked to have mostly healed. She felt more relaxed seeing him alive and ok.

' _He didn't die because of me._ '

"-o unless there's anything you two need, you're good to go and can return home." The Specialist told the two as the stopped right by Arcee. "I would offer an airlift for you two, but I'm afraid Atlas won't be willing to spare transport for two random civilians."

"But wait, what about the Grimm?" Jaune asked. "Is it safe to travel?"

"Do not worry Mr. Arc, if it wasn't safe to travel out there we wouldn't let you and your sister leave." After the specialist finished addressing them, Arcee pondered on something. She thought his name was 'Jaune', not 'Mr. Arc'. Did they have two names? Did certain people address others differently? Was 'Jaune' just a nickname, just like how she sometimes called Bulkhead 'Bulky'?

The Specialist continued. "Standard protocol during a Grimm incursion is to halt all traffic that's not military, Huntsman, or civilian evacuation. Normally I would advise against traveling on a motorbike this far out from the kingdom, but with the sweeps we've been making the Grimm presence here is now practically non-existent. I'll be surprised if you run into anything from here to your home."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Jaune nodded.

"Besides, if we do find any Grimm, I'll protect you, little brother," Joan smiled as she formed a fist and rubbed along the top of Jaune's head. He squirmed under it and tried to get away, but Arcee could see the small smile he had on.

'Maybe it's a social thing?' Arcee thought briefly before pushing it aside. Understanding these creatures social behaviors wasn't her priority.

Winter softly chuckled at the display. "Alright, unless there's anything else, you're good to go."

"Uh, just one," Jaune raised his hand briefly. "Are you one hundred percent sure about the bike?"

"Ok now you're just being paranoid," Joan smiled and shook her head. Hearing the conversation turn towards her made Arcee give them their undivided attention.

"I know she said it was fine, but it still feels like stealing."

'Wait, what now?' Arcee thought.

"While it is indeed not your bike, the serial number was scratched off completely and there's no license plate on it," Winter said.

'Scrap,' Arcee realized she messed up on that. But to be fair she didn't know what they were and took the form of the bike as is. It wasn't her fault, but that was something she had to keep in mind for the future.

"And according to Vale intelligence, local bandit tribes that have vehicles in this area take off any form of identification from them," The specialist then turned towards Arcee. "And while I don't encourage theft, I'd rather it not fall back into bandit hands, and you do need a way home." She then turned back to Joan and Jaune. "Besides, we have no use for it and would have just scraped the bike. At least this way it has a use other than junk."

Arcee's optics would have widened if she were in her bipedal mode. That definitely would have been bad. She definitely could have escaped before she could have been processed, but depend on where it was and how well guarded it was, she definitely would have been spotted. And since beings like her didn't seem common on this planet, it definitely would have drawn heat on her.

But that still left her effectively being handed off as property. Though hopefully, that could be easier to escape from. She could form a plan later.

"Well look at you Jaune," Joan smiled and ruffled his Jaune's hair again, "only thirteen years old and already have a motorbike. You'd be the coolest kid in town."

"Joan..." Jaune moaned as he tried to move away.

"You might actually get a date now," she teased with a smirk.

"Joaaaaaannnnnn..." he moaned again, but Arcee could see a small smile on his face. They really did remind her how some of the younger Autobots would act around one another. Though, she wondered what a 'date' was.

A chuckle escaped Winter's lips. "Specialist Schnee," Everyone turned their attention to the soldier walking up to them. This one had a red flat hat on the top of his head instead of a helmet.

"Lieutenant Lennox," Winter stood straight with her hands behind her back while Lennox walked up and saluted her by putting his hand on his forehead.

"The Colonel just gave us new orders. Scouts spotted Grimm to the south, we're going to clear them out," the man named Lennox explained. A ping noise filled the air and the Specialist picked up her scroll.

"I just got the message. Tell the rest of your platoon to be ready by the south gate, we leave in five."

"Yes ma'am," Lennox said. He dropped the salute and gave Joan and Jaune and walked away.

"Take the exit to the East", Schnee said as she typed something on her scroll. "The gate will know to let you go. Then take a left and follow the dirt path to the main road. You should be good from there."

"Alright, thank you," Jaune said.

"Thanks again ma'am," Joan said as she held out her hand.

"Just part of my job," the specialist said as she reached out and gripped Joan's hand and shook it before doing the same with Jaune. Arcee immediately figured it was some kind of kind gesture for them. "Take care you two." With a smile, Winter turned and walked the way Lennox went.

* * *

They wasted no time in getting out of the base and on the road. Joan drove since Jaune was still somewhat injured. Other than having Jaune point out some controls, Arcee found that Joan had better balance than Jaune did. She still had to assist with speed and turning control however, something Jaune was better at.

Arcee didn't know where exactly their home was, but she couldn't deny that she was enjoying the trip. The road they were on took them back through the forest. Though she only initially walked through it for an hour when she first arrived, she didn't realize how much she missed it. Once again she was surrounded by the colorful... plantlife was the word, right? Regardless, they were now back in the tranquility of forest life. Small creatures scurried on the side of the road and a there were even some small ones that flew through the air that filled Arcee with more curiosity about this planet's life. Even Joan and Jaune seemed to be doing better if their smiles were anything to go by.

The only complaint Arcee had was that she now had a hatred for 'dirt,' as Joan and Jaune called it. It remined Arcee too much about a mission she took in the Sea of Rust. Why they couldn't make it a paved road like in the town and the base was beyond her. The dirt was getting picked up by her wheels and thrown everywhere. She could feel it getting on and clogged in her, yet thankfully it didn't feel as corrosive. Cleaning it all out was going to be a nightmare, but bearable.

Despite that, she was enjoying this. It was peaceful.

"Wait!" Joan gasped as she hit the brakes, making her and Jaune wince at the sudden jolt.

"Joan, what's wrong?" Jaune asked. Arcee took in her surroundings and saw nothing that could pose a danger, nor did she hear any of those Grimm.

"I forgot," she said as she reached into her pocket and took out a scroll. "Because of the lockdown and dad getting deployed to another area, mom and everyone else could only get news of you through me. I didn't get a chance to tell them you were up yet." The scroll expanded and Arcee noticed Joan wince at it. "Crap." She then quickly tapped a few buttons and started typing quickly on it before slamming her finger on one final button. "Come on… come on..." The scroll pinged and Joan sighed in relief before the scroll emitted a jingle and turned off.

"Joan, what's wrong?" Jaune asked, unintentionally voicing Arcee's thoughts as well.

"I may have forgotten to charge my scroll last night and the battery just died," she turned to her brother and chuckled nervously. "All I was able to tell mom was that the both of us were on our way home before it died."

"You could have borrowed min-... oh." Jaune said before cupping his forehead in his hand for a moment, causing Joan to chuckle.

"And knowing mom, she'll message me back, and message me again when I don't respond, and she'll just grow more worried about us. She was already a nervous wreck wait for news on you." Jaune frowned at this. Joan seemed to realize her mistake and quickly put a hand on his shoulder. "But I'm sure everyone will be happy to see you somewhat well again… I know I was."

Joan immediately followed with a hug, which Jaune gladly returned.

Meanwhile, Arcee struggled not to 'awwwww' at the organic sparkling's interactions.

* * *

"Oh my god finally!" Jaune cheered, It took several more hours, but Jaune and Joan finally reached their hometown. I was so happy to finally be home and see his family again. Away from Rorke's Drift, the Grimm, and-

"You're more happy to get off because you think I'm a bad driver, don't you?" Joan asked, voicing Jaune's thoughts.

"I don't think you're a bad driver, I know you're a bad driver," Jaune corrected, trying to sound like an intellectual.

"Oh really, like you're any better?" Joan's lips curved upwards.

"I know I didn't zigzag as much as you did," Jaune retorted, "and I definitely didn't feel motion sickness when I drove it."

"Not entirely my fault," Joan retorted. "This motorbike seems to be fighting me sometimes, like its got a mind of its own."

"Yeah yeah, keep telling yourself that," Jaune with a grin. "You're just jealous that I'm finally better at you at something."

"Pfft, as if," She snorted.

"You totally are," Jaune's smile grew.

"At least I don't need cheat codes to beat my little sisters at Smashing Bros," Joan said. Jaune smiled dropped and his eyes widened.

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about," Jaune lied, but his stutter and facial expression betrayed him as Joan's sinister smile grew.

"My oh my, I wonder what would happen if that little information managed to reach some certain sister's ears," she said.

Jaune's face would have paled and he would have pleaded with her not to, but he had a trump card. "You wouldn't dare," he challenged.

"Oh, and why is that?"

"I'm your only brother, and you love me," Jaune said as he hugged Joan's back. Joan slowed the back to a stop and turned and stared back at him. She gave him a glare, but the longer they stared into each other's eyes, the more she failed to keep her serious expression up and soon she crack and started laughing with Jaune joining in.

Jaune could have sworn he heard another feminine chuckle come from nearby, but since they were literally out in the open and no one was nearby he just wrote it off as a phantom noise from the motorcycle's engine.

After their moment they set off and arrived back at their house several minutes later. From the outside, it looked like your ordinary two-floor house with a chimney and a gravel path leading to a shed in the backyard, like most of the other houses here in Camaron. But Jaune and Joan knew that it was a lot bigger on the inside that one would assume.

It had to be to hold a family of ten people. At least the backyard was very spacious.

Joan then pulled right up to the front steps and turned the bike off. She put the kickstand down and hoped off. She gave Jaune a hand and helped him off the bike, but he winced and rubbed his left arm through the sling.

"You ok?" Joan asked with concern but too afraid to try and helpless she make it worse.

"Yeah, just a little sore," Jaune reassured as he massaged his injured arm. "I'll just be glad to get this off in a few days."

They both walked up the few front steps and just before could Joan knock on the door, it opened. Joanne, their mother, stood at the open doorway and gasped. Her eyes turned to Jaune as she looked her one and only son over. She gasped and covered her mouth when she saw the bandage on his head and his left arm in a sling.

"Hi m-" before the words could leave Jaune's mouth, Mrs. Arc rushed forward and wrapped her arms tight around her son, bringing him close to her in a hug while being mindful not to crush his injured hand. Jaune then wrapped his arm around her and a moment later she brought her hand out and dragged Joan into the group hug.

"I'm so glad you two are safe," Joanne said as she pulled away to look each of her kids in the eyes before focusing on Jaune and looking him over. "I've been watching the news about Rorke's Drift a lot. And from Joan's messages… it sounded bad," she whispered out. With tears threatening to fall from her eyes, she brought Jaune close and cradled his head as she placed a kiss on top of it. "I'm just glad you're ok."

Before Jaune could say how much he missed her, one of his sisters still inside shouted, "Jaune and Joan are home!" Moments later, the rest of his six sisters charged out. Jaune and Joan were practically swarmed and Jaune almost fell over but luckily his mom helped him keep his balance.

They were met with smiling yet concerned faces. His sisters talked a mile a minute, asking if they were alright and what happened, with Jaune and Joan trying their best to answer their concerned sister's questions. Eventually, the questions stopped and soon everyone was silent in a group hug.

Jaune looked around as he held his youngest sisters, Jade and June, close to him. He took a look around to see everyone's smiling faces. He had no idea how much he missed them until now. Their voices, their smiles, their warm embraces…

All things he thought of when he put the gun to his head when he wanted to…

He shut his eyes tight to suppress the tears and held his sisters closer. That didn't matter and they didn't need to know that. He was ok, he was home, and he was with his family again. That's all that mattered.

Everything will back to normal soon.

* * *

 **A/N:** _Spoiler alert, nothing will be normal for Jaune anymore._

 _Ok so, **that poll** I mentioned earlier:_

 _It's come to my attention from reviews and in PM's that this story's pacing is... slow as fuck. This arc took longer than I thought (originally it was suppose to be only 4 chapters long), but now the story will be picking up. However, Arcee's true nature won't be a secret forever, it will be revealed eventually._

 _So, my question for you is: Should Arcee's true nature be revealed to Jaune in the next chapter, or should it stay a secret for a little longer?_

 _I can make it logically work both way, but I want to know what you guys want._

 _The poll is up on my profile, (but keep in mind that the poll is shared with another story)._

 _Thank you for your time, have a wonderful day:)_


	8. To Reveal or To Not Reveal

**A/N** : _So last chapter I put up a poll on whether Arcee should reveal herself or not. With a tallied vote of 18 to 63, the answer is.. well, you'll see. Lets just say I'm happy the vote went the way it did because that's what I wanted to do shortly after I put it up._

 _Anyway, here's chapter 8. Enjoy._

* * *

Arcee remained still and silent in her alt-form. She was currently in the 'shed' behind Jaune's home. She was moved here shortly after Jaune and Joan reunited with their family the previous night. It was a touching moment that Arcee could relate to. Their family was happy that they came home, that they were still alive after going through the Pit and back.

It made Arcee think about a lot of things.

These monsters, the Grimm… how much of this world do they control? Where did they come from? Are they a natural species of this world? If so, then how did the creatures like Jaune and Joan survive? How did their civilization survive and develop? Her mind raced with possibilities.

In a way, they reminded her of herself and her fellow Autobots back home. An endless battle against a relentless enemy, yet they were able to carry on and stay strong to survive. She respected these creatures for that. They had a lot more in common with cybertronians than she thought.

Speaking of, seeing Jaune's family made her curious. Jaune and the rest of his family, all named Arc she assumed, looked very similar to one another. Some of them had different colored eyes, but their body features were similar in design and they all had the same colored fur on top of their heads.

Was it because of how they were made? It actually made her curious as to how each of these creatures came into existence. She hasn't seen any structures like the incubation chambers back on Cybertron, which she admittedly didn't fully understand how they work. But she had a feeling that these things were made in a different way.

While it was all curious and fun to think about these creatures and their civilization, in the long run it didn't matter. As much as she wanted to learn more about this world, she had to remain focused on the task at hand. Finding a way off this world was her top priority.

She had to find a way back to Cybertron. The war was still going on, and her friends and comrades were still there fighting for their freedom and right to exist. It was a war that she was a part of for many, many cycles now, one that she poured her spark and energon into. She wasn't about to abandon the fight.

The problem she had was figuring out how to get off of this world. She had to factor in and take a lot of things into consideration.

She could try repairing the ship. It wouldn't require as much maintenance as one would assume. Just as long as the engines and controls were working, she would be fine. She's seen shuttles and ships function with less if the situation was desperate enough. Cybertronian shuttles also always had blueprints and schematics stored away in a compartment. It would be a steep learning curve in the beginning, but she can learn what to do in time.

But, the main problem with that would be resources. She could scrap down most of the shuttle's hull for metal, but if she needed smaller, more complicated pieces of equipment and needed a specific type of material that she didn't have, then she was in trouble. But it wouldn't be the end.

Remnant had advanced technology, as evident by its weapons, machines, and flying vehicles. All of those metals and resources had to come from somewhere. Was it too far of a stretch to think that they had an abundant of vast resources? But that in itself outlined another problem.

Acquiring them could prove challenging. She couldn't carry much, if anything, in her alt mode. Her bipedal mode was out of the question. While she could carry a lot normally, it was too high profile for these creature's towns and structures, and she would be spotted easily. Drawing attention to herself was the last thing she wanted to do. To these creatures, she was an alien, an unknown, and she wasn't sure how they would react if whatever governing body discovered her existence.

They're so many ways for it to go down and Arcee knew she could spend several cycles just thinking of all of them. She knew what she wanted to do, but she didn't know how to do it.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the double doors opened, revealing Jaune, the younger siblings, and another figure. He looked like Jaune, but a little taller, bulkier, and more fur around the mouth and chin of his head.

* * *

Jaune led his father to the backyard shed, with his youngest twin sisters following close behind. His dad arrived back home late last night and was more than happy to express his gratitude and joy at seeing his only son safely home. His mom practically had to tear his dad him off of him before he squeezed him to death.

Because it was late at night, Jaune promised to tell his dad about what happened the following morning. After he did and all was said and done, his dad asked if he could see the motorcycle. Jade and June tagged along too because they wanted to see their big brother's cool new bike.

He lead them to the back shed and opened the door. He stepped forward and flipped the light switch. Jade and June rushed passed him and his father stepped to his side, hand on his chin.

"Hmm," Jonathan Arc hummed as he looked the bike over. "Interesting."

"This is so cool!" Jade shouted as she ran around the motorcycle.

"It's huge!" June said as she climbed up on the seat and gripped the handlebars as she made motorcycle noises with her mouth.

"Careful kids," Jonathan warned before turning back to Jaune. "It's a little fancier than I imagined it."

"What did you think it would be like?" Jaune asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, for a frontier town away from Vale proper, I imagined it would have been a dirt bike, worn down and gritty. But this one is more high end. Sleek." He turned to his son with a grin. "And feminine."

"Eh?!" Jaune's gasp got caught in his throat as he looked to his dad. His eyes narrowed when he saw his dad's grin.

Jade stopped running and turned towards them. "Daddy, what's femminane?" she asked, mispronouncing the word.

"Feminine, and it means girly," Jonathan explained.

"You mean Jaune got a girl bike?!" Jude asked, bursting out in laughter a moment later.

"Jaune's got a girl bike! Jaune's got a girl bike!" The twins started to sing as they swayed back and forth. Jaune sighed in his palms and Jonathan decided that they had their fun.

"Alright girls, that's enough," he said. "I was only joking when I said that, no need to take it too far."

"Oh… sorry," Jade said as she looked down.

"Soowy big brother," June said as she hopped down from the bike's seat. Both twins then went up to Jaune and gave him an apology hug. Jaune sighed and kneeled down so he could return the hugs. He couldn't stay mad at them.

"It's alright I forgive you," Jaune said as he gave them each a kiss on the head.

"It's not really a bad bike," Jonathan said as he walked around the motorcycle. "Slim, doesn't look too heavy, sturdy, must be good in all terrain if you drove through the woods and roads without any trouble. You nabbed yourself quite the catch my son."

"Thank you," Jaune said as he stood up and looked down at his younger sisters. "You two mind if I talk to dad, alone, for a bit? I'll play that new game with you guys later."

"Ok!" Both twins perked up and quickly rushed out.

Jaune then stood up and walked over to his dad. "I hate you sometimes, you know that?" He said with a smile to show no harm done.

"You make it too easy," Jonathan with a smile of his own. "And all of those pictures of you in dresses didn't help either."

"You're just jealous that you never got invited to Jade and Jane and June's tea parties. But getting back on track, you really think it's a good bike?"

"Yes actually," he said as he looked the bike over. "Well… it does look like a fixer-upper. A lot of dents and scratches all over it. How did you say you found it again?"

"Ummm," Jaune cupped his chin as he thought for a moment. "I found it under a little bit of rubble back in the town," he recalled.

"Hmm, will this thing must have been pretty banged up beforehand," Jonathan said as he rubbed his hand over some dents and scratches. "But for it to still be running is a testament to its durability. This thing can take a beating." He then stood up. "Have you looked inside of it yet?"

"Inside it?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah. Look at its engine."

"Oh, no I haven't yet. I guess I will now though," Jaune said. He crouched down near at the side of the motorcycle. "Guess it's behind this cover. Now how do I open it?" He felt his hand around the side, trying to see if he could feel a switch or a button. "Ah, here we go," he finally found a button latch after a few moments. He pressed and slide the button to the side, allowing him to slid the plate covering the engine to the side.

He slides the plate halfway to the side and looked at the engine. It honestly wasn't what he expected. He was expecting to see valves, rings, shafts, pistons, wires… this… "This looks like something from a spaceship!"

Jonathan whistled as he peered over his son's shoulder. "Huh, pretty advanced for a motorcycle engine. Must be an Atlesian model."

"Is it?" Jaune tilted his head.

"I have no clue. Motorcycles and engines aren't my specialties."

"Didn't you fix the car's engine when it wouldn't start a few months ago?"

"... I literally just slammed my fist on it and it started working again," Jonathan admitted. "Don't tell your mother."

Jaune chuckled. "Sure thing dad." He then put the cover back on and stood up.

"So Jaune," Jonathan said as he and his son were now standing next to each other, "I talked with your mother earlier this morning. We know that after we get this thing registered, you would most likely want to try and get her fixed up and buff out those scratches." Jaune nodded in agreement.

Jonathan then took something out of his pocket and held it up to his son. Jaune's eyes widened when he saw that his father was handing him what looked like a few hundred lien. "Though we're a little tight on money at the moment, I earned a little more on my recent missions so we were able to spare a little bit just for you."

"I… wow." Jaune was honestly at a loss for words. "I… thanks, dad." A warm smile formed on his face as he accepted the money and hugged his dad.

"Anything for you, son. Now come, I think your mother will be making lunch soon."

* * *

"Slaaaaaggggggg," Arcee moaned as soon as she was certain that Jaune and his dad were out of earshot. This was not good. This was far from good.

While her cover wasn't fully blown just yet, them looking at the 'engine' and recognizing how foreign it is was just the first step. Even if they dismissed it as being 'Atlesian,' it wouldn't take them long to figure out otherwise. It was the pebble that will start a landslide. As she thought before, her reasons for remaining hidden on this world were clear. Discovery was not an option.

She would have to leave soon. She would leave under the cover of the night and head to the woods. She remembered the way back to the ship shouldn't be a problem. However, a certain thought came to her mind. _'Would revealing myself to him be that much of a bad idea?_ ' She was about to dismiss it, but after a moment, she started to consider it.

She no doubt would need outside resources to help repair her ship, but she didn't know where to find them. She would have to scour all across this world to find them, if they even existed here to begin with. She also didn't know much about the Grimm, which she no doubt will come across constantly on this world. Staying in disguise against these creatures could also prove challenging since she would need the knowledge of how they operate and live to effectively stay hidden right under their noses.

Jaune could help her with that.

He can help teach her how to blend in and even show her how the world works. He could also get her information she needed, like how to fight those Grimm monsters or where to find supplies and metals she would need. His home was also not too far away from the shuttle's crash site, so she could use it as a safe house of sorts. In addition, since this planet's vehicles needed an operator and she currently had no way of replicating one, he can help her blend in.

Of course, this would involve revealing herself to him, and she had a strong feeling that he wouldn't believe she was a piece of Atlesian equipment and would have to reveal herself as an alien to him. It could work, so as long as Jaune could stay quiet. She was putting a lot of faith in it, but she believed she could trust him to keep her secret, she did help save his life after all.

Though, she still had her doubts. This was just one possibility she could do. There were many other factors she had to consider. It was a good plan, but it wasn't the best plan. She couldn't jump to conclusions and pick a plan immediately. She needed more time to think.

* * *

Admittedly, Arcee went into stasis a short while after thinking. Being active since she woke up in the shuttle took a lot out of her and she needed time to recharge and conserve energon. When she woke back up, presumably at least several cycles later, Jaune came back in the shed and took her out.

From there, Jaune piloted her away from their home and into another town. It was similar to the one from before, but the contrast between the destroyed town and this one were more than noticeable to her. Arcee was able to see so many of these creatures walking to and fro, across the street and on the sidewalks, and in and out of various buildings and shops.

This civilization…. this society was almost exactly like the few remaining civilian sectors of prewar Cybertron still standing in Autobot territory. Though the buildings were much, much smaller, the principles were the same. It was a wonderful sight to see, one that also filled Arcee with a little bit of envy.

Soon afterward, they pulled into a 'garage' and Jaune told the other creatures there to 'fix'er up.' And for the next few hours, Arcee remained motionless as her outer shell was repaired, polished, buffered, and repainted. It was honestly a refreshing experience and she felt as good as new when it was all done.

Jaune then got on her and twisted the throttle. She revved up the engine and accelerated, succeeding in matching her actions with Jaune's hand movements perfectly as they turned onto and drove down the street.

They soon went to a 'dmv', where Arcee waited in the parking lot for a long period of time before he came back with someone else. The other creature screwed a 'licence plate' on her and had Jaune sign something on a white square before wishing him a good day and the two took off once more.

She remembered hearing the term 'licence plate' from Winter Schnee at the military base and recalled that it was some form of registration. It felt a little uncomfortable, but if it helped with her disguise then she couldn't really complain, every little bit helps.

"Oh, shoot," Jaune mumbled out loud a few minutes later. "I missed my turn. Crap. Ok uh… oh, I can cut through this alleyway," he voiced out loud as he slowed down and turned into the alley. Arcee didn't like. It was too cramped for her liking, especially when a few large green containers seemed to further choke the path. Not to mention that it gave her a bad vibe. But she didn't have any say in the matter. Jaune steered her slowly down the alleyway, careful not hit the green containers.

It happened too fast for any of them to react. One moment everything was fine. The next, Jaune was hit off of her and Arcee fell to the wall leaning against it. 'What _in the pit just happened?!_ ' Arcee yelled internally. She looked behind her and saw Jaune forcefully thrown against the wall by a larger female creature. She held a smooth long poll, that looked like it was the same materials as those brown plants that made up the forest, and pressed against Jaune's neck.

"Well well, what do we have here?" the thug taunted him. "A little dumb rich kid coming to the wrong part of town."

"W-w-wa- hold on a minute there, I'm not rich," Jaune stuttered out as his hands weakly struggled against the stick against his neck.

"Your bike says otherwise," she said, motioning towards Arcee. "Very nice and sleek. Looks expensive."

"I-I-I just found the bike! A-all I did was get her fixed up!" Jaune shouted.

"Aww. How nice for you to make her so clean and shiny just for me."

Arcee tuned out the conversation. She wanted nothing more than to show this floozy just what she was dealing with. But she couldn't risk anything, not in this crowded town with so many creatures that can witness her. She could help in her alt form, but the thug was too close to Jaune, it was too big of a risk that she'd hit and hurt him too.

It didn't stop her energon from boiling in anger.

What stung even more for her was that she had a similar experience in an Autobot city when she was a sparkling as well. She was running fast and got lost and made the mistake of trusting a stranger to show her a shortcut. The signs were obvious in hindsight, but she was just past the sparkling stage, how was she supposed to know any better? One moment all was well. The next, she was in a losing fight for survival as the cybertronian tried to rip her apart for spare parts. She was only still alive because someone overheard the struggle and rushed in to help her.

Before she could think about the unpleasant memory any further, she noticed Jaune slowly lifting one foot up, with the thug completely oblivious to it. "So, let's cut the bullshit. You give me your bike, and I'll forgive you for trespassing on my turf."

"That is a… very tempting offer. But I'm going to have to… pass!" He then kicked the thug in the lower chest, pushing her back as he caught her off guard and giving him an opening to run back to Arcee. She internally smiled at his quick thinking. 'Guess he didn't need my help after all,' she thought.

"Big mistake kid!" the thug shouted as she shot the brown stick out, making him trip. He fell to all fours and the thug quickly kicked him in the chest and swung the stick to his face, forcing him on his rear and back against the wall.

"You'll pay for that you little shit," the thug sneered. "So you have aura, huh? Guess that explains how you're still conscious. And it means I need to use something a little better." She then dropped the poll and pulled out a sharp, bladed weapon from her belt.

The situation just changed drastically and Arcee knew she had to act. Damn the consequences, Jaune's safety was her priority right now! She revved the engine. Before the thug or Jaune could even turn to her direction, Arcee slammed into the thug and forced her against the container. Her back hit first before her head slammed back against it, knocking her out as her body slumped to the floor.

Once she made sure she was out, Arcee reversed back to Jaune. He was standing and alternated looking at her and the knocked out thug with a hung jaw. "I… what… uh..." he tried to form words but was utterly confused at what just happened. "I don't..."

"Jaune, get on," Arcee said, making Jaune recoil back and look at her, eyes wide in shock and confusion.

"Did... d-did you just t-talk?!"

"Yes I did, now get on and let's get out of here," Arcee responded. "That thug could have friends nearby." Jaune hesitated for a bit, but then gave in and slowly got back on her. They left the alleyway and traveled back home. But Jaune was extremely wary the whole way. Arcee noticed how tense he became, and it was hard not to notice the nervous expression on his face and how he glanced down at her more than often.

Arcee inwardly sighed. She knew that he would have questions and would no doubt have to give him answers and hope that he could stay quiet. She was not looking forward to that but knew that it was going to happen soon no matter what.

Soon she noticed that they were traveling slowly on an empty back road. They were alone, and it gave her an idea. Since she knew he would want ask her questions and try to figure out what she was anyway, she decided that it would be on her terms.

"Jaune," she said as he flinched slightly and looked down at her, "we need to talk."

* * *

 **A/N** : _I didn't want to end it here, but I want to keep word count consistency and it seemed like a good place to cut off._

 _Now that Arcee revealed herself, we can finally get to the good fun stuff that I've been planning and wanted to do for so long! Revelations, friendships, bonding, drama, emotions, action, conspiracies, badassery, and more! I have so many story arcs planned for this and I can't wait to get to them all._

 _And shoutout for Cyberleader2000 for being this story's beta and being my go to nerd for transformer wiki facts and the like._

 _Thanks again for reading! Have a great day :)_


	9. First Impressions

**A/N** : _I swear I can put these though grammar correction programs dozens of times over and there'd still be grammar mistakes present._ _I always try find and to fix them even after uploading them, but still its annoying as hell.  
_

 _Anyway, enough of that. Here's chapter 9. Enjoy :)_

* * *

' _It's just my imagination. A byproduct of brain damage I got from the Rorke's Drift attack._ ' That was what Jaune kept telling himself. ' _I mean come on, talking and self-driving motorcycle? That stuff doesn't exist._ ' It was the only logical explanation he could think of.

Yet, when he was beaten and almost stabbed by the mugger, those things did happen. The unconscious criminal and dent in the dumpster were proof of that. It didn't make sense! What was happening?

Jaune decided to take a different way home, a dirt path in the woods. Though his parents advised against it in case of Grimm, he and his sisters rode their old bikes down there when they were younger. He needed to get away from people to try and clear his thoughts, to try and make sense of what was happening.

"Jaune, we need to talk."

His head snapped down at his bike the moment he heard the feminine voice, the same one he heard from the alleyway. A voice he swore he heard once before but couldn't place where. Maybe a dream?

"What do you want to talk about?" He asked his bike.

"There's a couple of things I want to discuss with you," it… she replied.

"Uh… sure," Jaune took a moment to look behind him and then back down the road. "Maybe not here though. It's empty for now but what if someone else comes along?"

"I was about to bring that up as well. Let's go off the road and into the woods so no one will see us," she said.

"Sounds good," Jaune agreed and turned to the forest. A small part of his mind raised red flags and told him he was going to get murdered by the sentient motorcycle, like in some cheesy horror movie. He quickly pushed it aside. They were in the forest for a while now, and she had plenty of chances to kill him already. If it wanted to, it would have a while ago.

"I think we're far in enough," the bike said as it slowed down to a stop on its own, taking Jaune off guard a little bit for a moment. Jaune flipped the kickstand down and got off of it. "Now I know you have q-"

"What are you?" He said quickly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off, that was rude of me."

"Apology accepted," she said with sympathy. "You've been through a lot recently."

"Yeah," Jaune nodded. "Getting back on topic: What exactly are you?" The motorcycle was quiet for a few moments.

"...I'm an advanced prototype motorcycle made by Atlas," she said.

"An advanced Atlesian motorcycle?"

"Yes," she continued. "I was made to help transport specialists in and out of combat zones with the Grimm and provide intelligence to them."

Jaune stared at the motorcycle. The more he thought about it, the clearer the flaws in her explanation became apparent. He was glad his world history class covered Atlas recently. "You're a prototype made by Atlas for their military. Since you can talk, I'm assuming you must be an artificial intelligence?"

"... yes actually. The most advanced one Atlas has ever made," she said. The area was filled with silence as Jaune just stared at it. "You don't believe a word I'm saying, do you?"

"No I don't," He said bluntly. "Why would the most advanced kingdom have a prototype this far away from their borders for testing? And why would it openly tell me that?" As soon as he said those words, a pang of fear dwelled inside of him. If this thing wasn't from Atlas, then where was it from? Did he just stumble upon something top secret? Did he now know too much and was now going-

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard her sigh. "Ah, it was worth a shot anyway. Jaune, look..." the front wheel turned to him, making him take a frightened step back. "I can see that you're afraid right now, but please see that I don't mean any harm to you," she said softly. Jaune didn't know why, but he found himself believing her and calmed down slightly. "I also no longer see any point in hiding what I am from you. Just take a few steps back and try not to freak out."

Jaune did as asked and took three paces backward. He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. He had no idea what was going to happen. He tried to prepare himself for anything. Yet he was still caught off guard by what happened next.

Slowly, the body of the motorcycle started to change, morph into something else, startling Jaune and making him take a few more paces back. The first thing recognizable to him was the formation of legs as it stood up. The body formed soon after, with its arms slowly stretching out from the sides. Finally, out came the head. She let out a breath of air and her eyes opened, revealing a bright teal-like glow from her pupils.

Jaune could only stare at her with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. He had so many thoughts and questions running through his head at once and couldn't comprehend them all at once. HE was just too stunned at the giant robot standing in front of him. Eventually, he was able to say something.

"Oh my god," he muttered. His fist clenched and stopped his hand from shaking. He looked back down to her feet and then back up to her head. The gears in his head slowly started to turn again. "You uh… y-you're not from R-Remnant… are you?" He managed to ask.

The giant robot seemed to smirk a little at that. "Perceptive little one. No, I am not." Her smirk soon dropped and Jaune could somehow see a form of concern in her artificial eyes. "I'm making you uncomfortable, aren't I?"

"I… kind of? This… this is kind of a lot to take in." Jaune slowly admitted. He wasn't entirely sure of what to feel or say in this situation.

The robot turned away. "Slag, I could have done this better." She shook her head and looked back to him. "Look I... " she sighed, "would you feel more comfortable if we continued this conversation later, like tonight?"

Jaune thought for a moment. "Uh… sure. I think that would be better." They were silent for a few more moments. "I guess we should head back to my home now?"

"Right, we should do that," Arcee agreed and transformed back into the motorcycle. Jaune was perplexed at how such a large thing was able to compact itself into something so small, but he shelved that thought for another time.

He then slowly got on it and they drove back to the dirt path and continued home. Jaune was lost in his thoughts when a particular one came to mind.

"Hey uh, robot lady, do you have a name?" He asked.

"I should have mentioned that, sorry. My name is Arcee," she replied.

"Arcee," Jaune repeated to get a feel for it. "Ok, I was just wondering. Thanks."

"No problem Jaune."

The rest of the ride was filled with awkward silence.

* * *

' _I could have done that better,_ ' Arcee thought as she sat in her alt-form in the shed. When she revealed her true nature to Jaune, she sort of expected him to freak out a little bit but then calm down once she explained and then the two to engage in some kind of dialogue. But then when she saw his nervousness she backed down and felt awkward herself for making him feel that way.

The whole thing was awkward and could have been done better.

When they got back, Jaune said he'd come back to talk with her as soon as he can later. But the star set over the horizon a while ago and he hasn't arrived yet. Was he getting held up, or did she scare him and make him afraid to talk to her?

Just before she could contemplate further, the shed door opened and Jaune walked in. "Uh, hey Arcee," he waved as he closed the door behind him.

"Hello again," Arcee greeted, she would have been smiling with glee if she wasn't in her alt-form. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up."

"Yeah, sorry about that," he apologized. "I had to wait until everyone else was asleep or in bed before I came out here. Didn't want anyone, especially my little sister's, following me out here. They're already worried about me as it is."

"That's good, the fewer people that know about me, the better," Arcee said. She already was taking a huge risk with Jaune. Having more people know would just complicate things further. "Wait, they were worried about you?"

"Finding out my motorcycle is actually a robotic alien isn't exactly the best way to stay completely calm," Jaune sighed. "They knew something was up but I was able to play it off as shock from getting mugged. Though I panicked and said there were multiple muggers, and they didn't want to let me out of their sight after that."

Arcee couldn't help but chuckle at that. "You can't blame them for caring about your safety."

"I don't, and I love them. It's just… never mind, we're getting off track." Jaune shook his head before training his attention back to her. "So uh… you're an alien robot, huh?"

"Yep," she replied. "You're taking it rather well, more so than one would assume."

"Well… I'm not sure what I'm supposed to expect or do," he admitted and paused for a moment. "Um, I do have some questions I wanted to ask."

"I also have some for you, if you don't mind," she said.

"I don't mind. Should you go first or should I?" He made hand gestures to emphasize his question.

"I'm your guest so you can go first," she offered.

"Thank you." Jaune smiled and opened his mouth to speak but paused and took a moment to look around the shed. "Would you mind if you're in your… not motorcycle form? Feels kind of weird when it seems like I'm talking to a vehicle."

"Sure." Arcee honestly didn't mind. Even back on Cybertron, she found it rather awkward to talk to someone when one or both of them were in their alt-forms. She and many others preferred the personal touch of a face to face conversation. "But I don't think I'll be able to fit in here."

"Yeah, the shed did seem a little small." Jaune took a moment to cup his chin. "If you want we can go out back in the woods."

"Won't your family see us if we leave?"

"No. It's late at night so everyone is either asleep or they retired for the night, as long as you don't rev the engine and we stay in the forest then we'll be good," Jaune explained.

"Good thinking," she complimented, "though I'll need you to push me out if you don't want any noise." She could move herself and make a minimum amount of noise doing so, but she didn't want to risk anyone hearing them.

"Ok," Jaune nodded. He then opened the door and wheeled her out to the forest. It wasn't lost to her how he kept cautiously glancing back to the windows. It actually gave Arcee a bit of comfort knowing that he was serious about keeping her a secret as she was.

"Ok, I think we're good," Jaune said as he stopped pushing her after a while. "You can uh… transform now."

Arcee did so, but whereas before she did so slowly so that she wouldn't scare him, this time she did so at normal speed. She turned to look down and face him and saw him looking over her with curiosity. "Something on your mind?"

"Nope," Jaune shook his head and looked up at her. "Well, I'm just still a little stumped at how someone as big as you fit into that small motorcycle and still be so light. Seriously, it's like you weigh nothing at all."

"Trade secret," she said with a smirk and sat down cross-legged against… a tree it was called, assuming she overheard those soldiers correctly. "Well, I'm here to answer any questions, so ask away."

"Alright," he then sat crossed-legged across from her. "I guess I'll start with the basic ones I have first. Who and what are you? Where are you from and why are you here?"

Arcee figured those would be the first types of questions he would ask, and had time to think of those answers. "Well, as I said before, my name is Arcee. I am a cybernetic organism and I come from a planet named Cybertron." She paused for a moment and Jaune nodded for her to continue. "As for why I'm here, it's more of an accident really. I didn't plan on it. An energy source on my ship malfunctioned and exploded. I was knocked into stasis for a long time. When I woke up, my ship was all but destroyed and inoperable, and I saw fit to start exploring my new surroundings and to see if I could see where I was."

She purposely left out the parts about the Heart of Cybertron and the fighting with the Decepticons. She didn't see a need to tell him that information, at least for now.

"Makes sense I suppose," Jaune looked down for a moment. "What were you doing at Rorke's Drift, the town I found you in?"

It took a moment for Arcee to figure out where he was going take this. "I actually woke and started to explore earlier that day. Later on, I saw the smoke. I decided to investigate and came across the town," she took a moment to metaphorically shake the memories of what she's seen out of her head, but it didn't go unnoticed by Jaune. "I eventually ended up in the main square, the whole place was a mess." Jaune's face quickly morphed to one relieving a pained memory, one she's seen on many Autobot veterans. Arcee felt bad but continued. "That's right around when the monsters- the Grimm came. They had me surrounded on all sides, but I wasn't going to let them all go and walk away, not after what they did."

"Wait," Jaune perked up quickly, looking up at her with recognition. "The explosions and fighting… that was you?"

Arcee nodded her head. "I guess you heard that?"

"I thought it was a huntress. T-the Grimm were actually right on top of where I was hiding. They were about to get me but then they were drawn off towards the fighting. You saved my life. Thank you."

Arcee couldn't help but match his small smile. "It's what I do, glad I was able to help you."

"I-" Jaune's words were interrupted when they heard a musical tune playing. Arcee tilted her head to the side in confusion. Jaune then pulled a scroll out of his pocket, which quickly became apparent to be the source of the music.

' _They use music as an alert to transmissions?_ ' Arcee thought. ' _Odd… has a beat though._ ' She made a note to ask about that music later.

"Oh boy," Jaune sighed as he tapped the screen. "Hey mom, what's u-"

"Jaune, where are you?" Arcee heard his mother say through the scroll. She didn't sound amused.

"I uh..." Jaune looked around and at Arcee. "I wasn't tired so I felt like a quick drive would do the trick?"

A sigh was heard through the scroll. "Just get back here, you shouldn't be out this late, especially on a school night."

' _They have schools here?_ ' Arcee should have realized that that was obvious, given that this society developed very similarly to Cybertron's (something that still left her in awe yet creeped out at the same time), she guessed it was one of those things she just overlooked because it was obvious until you pointed it out.

"Ok ok, I'll be back soon," Jaune said as he put the scroll again. "I'm afraid we're gonna have to cut this short."

"It's not a problem, we can continue this another time," Arcee said as she transformed.

"Ok, I'll be sure to answer any questions you have later." Jaune mounted her and they started driving back to the house. But seconds later, a very important thought crossed Arcee's mind.

"Hey Jaune, one quick question. What's your species called?" She asked.

"Uh, human. We're called humans," Jaune replied.

"Human… odd name, but I guess it's better than referring to 'you creatures' all the time."

"What did you think we were called?"

"I overheard some soldiers call this planet 'Remnant,' I was going to assume it would be something like 'remnantian' or 'remini'."

"...that sounds dumb," Jaune failed to suppress a soft snicker.

"No it is not, it makes sense when you consider that my planet is named Cybertron and we are called cybertronians," she countered.

"That's actually better than what I was mentally calling you earlier," Jaune admitted.

"What did you call me?" she asked with curiosity.

"... transformer," he said after a moment of silence.

"You thought I was called a transformer?"

"Well, you are able to transform from a robot to a motorcycle. Transform. Transformer. It made sense," he defended himself.

"By that logic, you should be called a walker."

"...you know, yeah, that does sound stupid," Jaune admitted with a chuckle. Arcee joined in as well. She may not have gotten any of the answers or information she wanted, but she seemed to be on good terms with Jaune. It was a small step and she wished more could have happened, but it was progress nonetheless.

They then arrived back to the backyard. Joanne Arc could be seen standing next to the shed, her crossed arms and facial expression clearly showed her annoyance. They pulled up and stopped in front of the shed door, right next to her.

"I-" Jaune said, but was immediately interrupted.

"It's almost midnight, and you're out riding your motorcycle in the woods in the dark," Mrs. Arc stated.

"Sorry," Jaune rubbed the back of his head. "I just had some things on my mind and wanted to get a clear head."

"There are better ways to do that than going out into the woods this late at night. Unless there's something you're not telling me, or are afraid to tell me," her eyes narrowed in accusation.

"Wait what?! No! Nononono!" Jaune shouted quickly. "I was doing nothing like that! I honestly just was taking a short dumb drive through the forest. Nothing else."

Joanne was quiet for a few moments. "You're hiding something." Arcee felt Jaune's hands tighten on her handlebars, and she felt a pang of worry dwell inside of her. Though it was short lived. "But not whatever I'm thinking of." Her expression softened and her arms fell to her side. "Just please promise me you're not doing anything you'll regret."

Jaune relaxed as he held one hand up while the other was placed on his chest. "I promise I'm not doing anything I'll regret, mom, Arc's word."

Joanne visible relaxed after hearing that. "Alright, I believe you," she said softly. "Just put your bike away and get some sleep for school tomorrow."

"Ok mom," Jaune nodded, "I'm just going to clean some dirt off my bike before I come in." Joanne nodded and walked back to the house as Jaune rolled Arcee into the shed.

"We need to be more careful in the future," Arcee said, "unless you're thinking of telling them-"

"No," Jaune interrupted. "I'd rather just keep this between us."

"Thank you," Arcee sighed in relief, "I was honestly hoping for that."

"I'd rather not worry them about this. She knows something is up but doesn't know what. I can play it off as something else and keep you hidden."

"Good. Shall we pick this up tomorrow morning?"

"Ye-... no. I have school most of tomorrow and the rest of the week." Jaune said. "Oh crap, I forgot to mention that since you're… well, my bike, I told them that I was going to use it to get to school from now on."

"Oh… hmm," Arcee hummed at the revelation. "How often would I have to do this?"

"Five days a seven day week... for most of the year," Jaune winced after he spoke. "I'm sorry I'm basically am making you-"

"It's ok," Arcee interrupted, "it's just a slight inconvenience. I'm fine. You should hurry back inside before your mom gets suspicious."

"Ok then. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night Arcee."

"Good night Jaune." Arcee didn't know if 'good night' was some kind of farewell, but she returned it regardless. As soon as Jaune left and she was sure he was out of hearing distance, she quietly sighed to herself.

She was actually a little annoyed at her current predicament. Staying hidden from the rest of the planet's population and governments was a top priority and acting as Jaune's personal vehicle was a good cover, but doing so would also severely limit her ability to move around. She was hoping to make a run to the ship. She wanted to reassess the damage, make a few repairs if she could, and maybe even take a few energon cubes and make a hidden stash somewhere close to Jaune's home to shorten future supply runs.

That could wait though. She wasn't in a need for more energon and wouldn't be for a long while. The wait would be long and the boredom would take a toll on her, but she suffered worse on Cybertron. She once waited over a dozen rotationary cycles prone in one spot on a scouting mission. If she could last through that, she could last through this.

In the meantime, she would think of an idea on how to make this deal mutual beneficial.

* * *

 **A/N** : _Nothing really to say here for a closing, so...  
_

 _Thanks to Cyberleader2000 for betaing._

 _Thanks you for reading! Have a great day :)_


	10. Trip to the Shuttle

**A/N** : _I'll keep the a/n's short. Apologies for the delay, I got side tracked with other things, including 2 new fics: 'A Tale of First Contact' and 'Remnant's First Huntsmen'._

 _Anyway, let's get to the reason on why you're here._

 _ **Edit** : Chapter was beta'ed and corrected._

Here's chapter 10 of The Autobot and the Arc. Enjoy :)

* * *

The bell rang and Arcee could hear the excitement of the younger humans, teenagers if she recalled the term correctly, as they left the building. Arcee shared some of their enthusiasm. Over the past five days, she has been Jaune's personal transport to and from his school. The long hours of waiting weren't as boring as one would think.

She was chained on a bike rack right next to a classroom window, so she was able to peek in and listen to what was being taught. So far she was able to eavesdrop on various history and geography classes, and one class about different types of local Grimm and how to avoid them. She was surprisingly glad about learning about Remnant. Jaune was also happy to help further explain anything she didn't understand or missed. In addition, he also helped explain some social cues, phrases, and other things she overheard the students say, and do.

Well… most of them anyway. Some of the things would make his face turn red and he would refuse to talk about it. She figured that there was a reason and didn't pursue further.

But anyway, today was a 'half day' due to a teacher conference. This meant Jaune got out before noon. He said that after they make a quick stop in town to get something, they can spend the rest of the day to head to her ship.

Heading to the ship was something she could have done on her own, but she currently didn't know how long the trip would take and where the most direct route was. Jaune said he'd help by looking at maps to find the most direct route, if he could tag along. She wanted to say no, but part of her felt that he'd be more cooperative with her if he had a better idea of what he was helping with.

Plus, to keep the disguise up she would have to be out when he was out and in the shed when he was home. His motorcycle being gone while he was home would raise questions and cause complications neither of them wanted.

The students started coming out and getting their bikes off of the racks. Arcee wouldn't admit it, but she was enjoying the few jealous glares some of them sent her way. Jaune came out a few minutes later when the racks were clear of people and most of the other bikes were gone.

"Hey Arcee, sorry I'm late," Jaune said quietly as he unchained her wheel.

"It's ok, she whispered back. "Are we still able to head to the ship today?"

"We just need to get a few vegetables and drop them off home for mom. I told my mom I would be with friends afterward, so she won't be suspicious of anything."

"Excellent."

It took only a few minutes to get to the food market and a few more to get back to Jaune's home. Arcee was a little fascinated by human food. She and other cybertronians could only really get their energy from a single source, yet the humans can get theirs from so many different things. Though they had to consume much more of it than they did energon, the fact that most of their food was from plant life was convenient. She wondered if they had different flavors like some energon did.

They quickly arrived back home. Jaune went in and soon came back out with a backpack of food and school materials to pass the time. He also brought up a map on his scroll. Rorke's Drift was marked and the adjacent coastline was circled. Arcee saw three possible areas where her ship could be, and they soon took off for the closest one.

They didn't take any of the main or back roads, they made for the straightest route possible through the forest. This was a little more dangerous because it increased the possibility of running into Grimm, but both were confident that they could easily outrun, and avoid them entirely.

But in the end, Primus must have been watching her today. Not only did they not encounter any Grimm along the way, but the first location was in fact the correct one. Jaune checked his scroll as soon as they stopped. "The trip took just under two hours. I thought it would have been longer."

"Well, we didn't have to take it slow due to your injuries, and we had a straight path to take instead of those side and main roads," Arcee explained.

"Good point," Jaune said as he got off of her. "Are you sure this is the right place? Where's the ship?"

"It crashed along the cliffside, by the water," Arcee said as she transformed and took a knee. "We have to climb. Hope on and I'll carry you." Jaune hesitated before accepting the offer and climbing up. He wrapped his arms around her neck and legs around her body.

Arcee walked over to the cliff and started climbing along the side. She was careful with her movements, not wanting to make Jaune feel uncomfortable or accidentally pinch him. It was slow, but they made it to the ship in no time.

Once in, Arcee let Jaune down and took a moment to look around. The shuttle was still a wreck, and with the angle of the sun, Arcee was noticing a lot more tears, dents, and warped metal all along the walls and ceiling. It was an absolute mess. How the shuttle was still in one piece was a miracle on its own.

"THIS IS AWESOME!" She looked down to Jaune, who had a huge smile on his face as he looked around, seemingly ready to start jumping in the air. "Oh my god I'm actually on a spaceship! An alien spaceship! Holy crap this is awesome!"

Arcee couldn't help but chuckle at his display. He was just like a young excited little sparkling. "Just be careful and don't touch anything glowing or sharp. And no buttons."

"Ok ok, I'll be careful," Jaune said as he put his backpack down and started looking around. There wasn't much space to go, the shuttle wasn't that big. But with Jaune's size compared to hers and his fascination, Arcee was sure it was more than enough for him.

While Jaune explored and marveled at everything in the ship, Arcee decided to do another inventory check on the off chance she'd find something she'd miss the first time. She didn't find anymore energon than previously, but she concluded that she had enough to sustain herself for at least five of Remnant's years, more so if she rationed it out.

"Hey Arcee, what's the glowing stuff in those crates?" Jaune asked.

"This is energon," Arcee pulled out a cube out and held it near the floor. This is what I need to sustain myself and keep me powered up. Think of it like food for me."

"Wow," Jaune's eyes sparkled with astonishment as he stared at the cube. "I-is it safe for me to touch?"

"It's refined and processed, so it should be, yes," Arcee replied. Energon was toxic in its raw form but was safe once refined. It didn't even occur to her that it could harm him because he was organic. But when it did, Jaune already had his hand on it for a few seconds and everything seemed to be ok.

"It feels a little… tingly. Weird." Jaune retracted his hand moments later and rubbed it. "Thank you for showing me." Arcee smiled as she put the energon cube away. Her optics then caught the terminal interface by the pilot's seat. She initially overlooked it thinking everything was offline and there was no source of power for it.

But now she had a hunch that said otherwise. She walked up to it and wiped away the rubble and dust. She flipped a few switches and the small screen emitted a small glow. Arcee smirked, at least the shuttle's onboard computer was still functioning. She had the computer do a system's check. Only the onboard diagnostic/pilot systems and the ramp control appeared to be online. Everything else was marked as offline or unresponsive.

It was expected, but she hoped it wouldn't be this bad. Doubt started to creep into her mind, but she shook it away. She couldn't afford to think like that right now. She went through more of the systems. She went through the systems and found an option for a hidden storage locker. Curious, she activated it and heard a quick hiss behind her.

"I didn't do it!" Jaune shouted in a panic with his hands up, standing next to a now open compartment. "I swear I didn't touch anything!"

"It's ok, that was me. Sorry," Arcee apologized as she walked to and peered inside the locker. There were two shelves. On top, there were a few energon rations that Arcee immediately took and put in her internal storage for later. The bottom shelf contained some kind of rectangular object the length of her forearm with a slit at the top. She swore she saw something similar before, but couldn't recall where. She noticed to the left of it was a datapad. She picked it up and started to read through it.

After reading for a minute, she found out that the rectangle was actually a folded up neutron assault rifle. It was a common weapon she saw used among Autobot and Decepticons alike. She preferred using her own blasters and arm blades, but having the extra option wouldn't hurt.

She put her hand in the slit and the box attached itself to her before folding into her without any physical differences to her body. She stood up and tested summoning it, transforming her arm into the weapon: twin tri-barrel machine guns. Not the most accurate from what she's seen, but good for close combat and for laying down suppressive fire. Everything seemed ok and she couldn't help but smile.

"Wow." Arcee turned her head around. She actually forgot Jaune was here for a moment. His eyes were locked on the new weapon. "What is that?"

"It's a weapon I just found in the locker," she explained and turned her arm back to normal.

"That was a really big gun," Jaune commented slowly.

"Pretty normal from where I'm from," she responded nonchalantly as she walked back to the console.

"Are you a soldier?" Jaune asked after a few moments.

"Yes, I am." Arcee paused for a moment before turning back to him. "I never really told you anything about me, have I?"

"Not really, no," Jaune shrugged.

"Huh, I didn't even realize..." Arcee took a moment to think. "Tell you what, when we get back later, I'll tell you all about myself and my home. It's only fair since you did it for me after all."

"Ok, thank you," Jaune smile. Arcee returned it and went back through the console to see if there was anything she missed. After a minute of searching, she found something else that she overlooked.

She found an option to activate a radar/homing beacon. Arcee figured that it could activate a distress beacon or at least scan the surrounding planet and stars to tell her where exactly she is in relation to Cybertron. She tried to activate it but a no signal error appeared. "Slag…. wait a moment..." She then recalled that Jaune mentioned that scrolls could wirelessly connect across the whole planet. "Hey Jaune, can you come here for a moment and let me borrow your scroll, please?"

"Uh, sure," Jaune jogged over and handed it to the larger bot. "What do you need it for?"

"I want to test something, I'll only be a moment." With gentle care, she took the small device and placed it down. Just like before in Rorke's Drift, she put one finger up shifted it into the plug and inserted it into the scroll. She then transformed her other finger and inserted it into one of the console ports. To her surprise, a pop up on the console showed that it seemed to be working, and soon the 'beacon active' sign appeared. Arcee's joy was short lived as the screen flickered into an error message. 'Beacon malfunction: unknown error.'

"Oh well, it was worth a shot," Arcee sighed. But right before she pulled her finger out of the scroll, she got a curious thought and started to scan through the scroll. She avoided the pictures and personal messages for Jaune's privacy. After a few moments of scanning the functions, she found one that would be useful and copied it.

"Hey Jaune, do me a favor and tell me your scroll number," she asked as she handed the scroll back to him.

"Ok, but why?" Jaune asked after he did so. Arcee smiled and held two figures to her audio receptors. Jaune scroll rang a moment later and he answered it.

"Can you hear me?" Arcee's voice echoed through the scroll instead of her mouth.

"Wow!" Jaune's head alternated between Arcee and his scroll. "You can call me by yourself now?!"

"Voice only, but we now have a way to contact each other," Arcee matched his smile and ended the call. "That should make communicating a little easier now." It wasn't anything Arcee planned to do, but it was something.

* * *

The next few hours flew by rather quickly. Arcee managed to get through the rest of the ship, answering whatever questions she could whenever Jaune brought them up. Arcee managed to determine that despite the damage, the hull integrity was just strong enough to escape atmosphere and two out of the four side engines, one on each side, were still mostly in one piece. It didn't look like much, but personal experience told her that it would be enough.

She wasn't able to study the engines to see how to repair them, but she could do that next time. She didn't get done much of what she wanted, but it was better than nothing. As much as she wanted to stay, she had to keep her cover and Jaune's cover.

"You ready Jaune?" she asked.

"Yep," he replied as he zipped his backpack up. "All ready to go."

"Alright. Hope o-" There was a soft sound of an explosion outside. Not even in an eye blink, Arcee had both arm blasters aimed at the entrance and was crouched in a firing stance, ready for combat.

"-cee? Arcee?" Arcee zoned back in and looked down to Jaune. "Are you alright?" he asked. She couldn't help but notice that he looked more concerned for her. Did he not hear the- She flinched when she heard another soft explosion. This time she confirmed that it was of something breaking the sound barrier, like the Decepticon seekers.

"It's ok Arcee, you can put the guns away It's only thunder," Jaune said softly as he moved his hands in a calming motion.

"Thunder?" She asked as she put her weapons away.

"Yeah, sounds like a rainstorm is coming."

"Rainstorm?"

"Yeah it's-... wait, we should go outside and check to see how bad it looks."

Arcee just nodded and let Jaune climb up on her and scaled along the cliffs. She felt a little unease. She didn't know what rain was, but she had an idea it was bad since it was a storm. Cybertron unfortunately had its areas that were plagued by rust storms. Getting caught in one was a death sentence and a guarantee to a slow, decaying death.

Her worries weren't calmed when they reached the grassland and saw that the inland sky was covered in dark gray and black clouds, ever so slowly creeping towards them as bright white arcs of electricity flashed violently and were almost immediately followed by the booms she heard earlier. Not even approaching rust storms, which Autobot and Decepticon alike feared, looked as menacing as this did.

"Oh crap," Jaune said, sounding more inconvenienced than anything else. That was her only indication that it wasn't as bad as it looked. "I really should have looked at a weather report before we left, dang it."

"I'm assuming we can't travel in this?" Arcee asked hypothetically.

"Well, I'm sure you could with no problem, but not me. Just the rain alone would be enough to ruin my stuff and give me a cold," Jaune said.

"The rain would make you feel cold?" She asked with a raised optic.

"Uh, no. Cold as in a little sick," he explained. He looked at the storm again and pulled out his scroll. "And I got no signal now. Great."

"Storm's causing interference," Arcee stated the obvious. "How bad do these storms get?"

"You don't want to get caught outside, that's for sure. We'll be fine if we stay in the ship, I'm just worried about how long it will take. If it lasts for the rest of the night then my mom will know I lied about where I was today."

Arcee instantly saw the problem with that. His mom figuring out he lied about where they were could cause trust issues and complications that could delay her opportunities to travel back to the ship. She could still leave on her own, but it would just raise questions if she was missing when Jaune was still home.

"We'll figure something out," Arcee said, managing to comfort Jaune a little before a close and loud boom of thunder echoed through the air. "Let's get back to the ship now."

* * *

The sun set a while ago and it was still and thundering pretty bad outside. Jaune eventually fell asleep, using his backpack as a pillow. Arcee sat next to his body, gazing outside the ship. Jaune explained to her about the 'water cycle', precipitation, and how it affects the natural life on Remnant and how it creates different habitats. It was all fascinating to Arcee and she found it fun and interesting to learn how the alien planet functioned.

Another flash of lightning lit up the sky, allowing Arcee to see the hundreds of rain droplets in the air for a slight moment. Curious, she got up and stuck her hand outside, taking note of the raindrops falling on her hand and how it felt.

She got a curious idea and saw no harm in doing so. She scaled the cliff again, it was a little harder this time since the rocks were slippery, and walked out to an open area before holding her arms out, optics closed with her head tilted up.

All over her body, she could feel the raindrops impacting against and bathing her, slowly running down her metallic form. She was covered in liquid energon before, but the rainwater felt so much different. It felt comfortably cold, clean, smooth, and light, much like the river she found earlier. It felt pleasant and relaxing. She opened her eyes and several bolts of lightning lit the sky, allowing her to see the small details of the clouds above as well as the thousands if not millions of tiny water droplets descending from the sky. Arcee may have thought the storm was menacing looking before, but now she couldn't help but see beauty in it. It was wonderful.

Arcee stayed like that for a while, wanting to savor the memory before she went back inside the ship.

* * *

The cybertronian patrolled the ship's corridors one last time out of boredom. Not like there was anything else to do. It then decided that it was time to power down for now to conserve energon. It went around shutting off the ship's systems, but when it got to the main control room, it stopped. One of the monitors was blinking. It picked up a signal.

A cybertronian beacon.

The transformer immediately rushed to the terminal, but the monitor then displayed that the signal was lost. The cybertronian cursed and smashed its fist against the wall. It typed some commands in the terminal for learn more. It couldn't get much, only two pieces of information:

While it couldn't get the exact location, it was able to determine that the beacon came from within a 500 km radius from one of the planet's main settlements. The signal was also an Autobot one.

That fact alone made the cybertronian type the command to deploy several probes to scout the area. The transformer decided to make his stasis short, just in case they found something quickly.

* * *

 **A/N** : _T-pose to assert your dominance over nature Arcee XD, that was my favorite scene to visualize._

 _So yeah, Arcee and Jaune have been bonding, she has a new gun and a new fascination for rain, and another cybertronian is entering the fray. But is it a friend or foe? Hopefully you'll find out soon._

 _Also big shout out to Cyberleader2000 for my go-to for TF facts and lore and to Cylon One for Betaing._

 _Thank you for reading, have a great day :)_


	11. A Perfect Cover

**A/N** : _Hi everyone. Welcome to another chapter of The Autobot and the Arc._

 _I'll leave any notes and announcements in the ending A/N._

* * *

Arcee was having second thoughts about rain. Don't get her wrong, she still thought it was fascinating and beautiful to experience. It was just a by-product of it that was giving her these negative feelings.

"It's fragging all over me..." Arcee complained as they traveled through the forest in the early morning.

"I am so sorry I didn't think of that earlier Arcee, 100% my fault," Jaune apologized.

"Please tell me you have a way to get this mud off of me. I feel absolutely disgusting."

"There's a hose in the backyard I can use to wash you off."

"Thank you. I swear this mud is starting to solidify and crust on me."

"Hey, you're not the only one suffering here," Jaune said as he gestured to his mud-soaked clothes.

"To be fair, you were driving me, hitting that rock was your fault," Arcee couldn't hold it in anymore and she started chuckling at the situation, with Jaune joining in soon after.

Despite the setback from having to stay the whole night because of the storm, Arcee would say that this trip was a success. She got a good assessment of the ship and of what she had to do, she retrieved some energon to store for later, and she has a new way to communicate with Jaune to help keep her cover. She hoped that they could do weekly, she could get so much accomplished if that was the case. But regardless, staying hidden was a top priority. If that meant that they could only do this once a month, then so be it.

They were on the main road now and were close to the house when Jaune suddenly hit the breaks and started to wheel her on the road while running. "What's wrong Jaune?"

"It's still early so they all might be asleep. I want to try and sneak in and make them think I came home late instead of now," Jaune explained. "I'll still clean you but I gotta shower first so they don't get suspicious."

"Smart, I didn't even think of that," Arcee complemented. Jaune wheeled her along the road and then through the small patch of trees to their backyard. Taking a few short moments to check the windows every now and then, they made their way to the shed.

"Alright," Jaune said as he opened the door and wheeled her in, "I'll be back out in a few minutes and get you cleaned off. Can you last that long?"

"I'll try my hardest," her response got a smile out of Jaune as he walked away. He got just out of sight from the door when she heard the sound of his footsteps cease.

"Oh, hehe, hey mom. W-what are you doing here so early?"

"That implies I went to sleep at all last night," Arcee heard Joanne say. She did not sound amused in the slightest. "Why didn't you come home last night, or even call me?"

"I couldn't because of the storm. I couldn't travel in it and it took out the reception. I'm sorry." Jaune replied.

"All true," Joanne was silent for a few moments. "I tried calling you when I saw the storm approaching but couldn't get through. But then I remembered you mentioned you were hanging out with Mrs. Nakadai's kid so I called her. Imagine my surprise when she said that not only were you not with her or her daughter, but that you two drifted away and haven't even been friends for a little over a year now."

Arcee did not envy Jaune's current predicament, but she did know the feeling and felt sympathy for him. She got in trouble before when she was younger and smaller too. Primus help you if you accidentally broke or even scratched something of Ratchet's. You were usually fine… physically at least.

But this also presented a problem. Arcee learned how human families work. If Jaune got in trouble and got 'grounded', which was a weird name for a punishment, then that would just complicate things further than they need to be.

An idea sprung up in her mind. It was a dumb one, but it would have to do.

* * *

"Jaune, I am only going to ask this once: Where were you last night?"

Jaune was frozen under his mother's glare. He was so screwed with a capital S. He didn't know what to tell her. She wouldn't believe any lie he told and the truth was just too far fetched. Who would believe 'I spent the night aboard the crashed spaceship of the alien robot girl who is also my motorcycle'? No one would. He was boned.

Then his scroll started ringing. He took it out and saw "unknown number" calling.

"Answer it on speaker," his mother glared with crossed arms. Not wanting to make the situation any worse, Jaune did as commanded.

"Hello?"

" _Hey Jaune!_ " said a high pitched and energetic voice. Jaune's mind had a hard time processing why it sounded so familiar, and when he did he still didn't believe it.

"Arcee?"

" _Yep! I just wanted to call and say thank you for helping me get my homework done last night! I really appreciate it!_ " So many questions were going though Jaune's mind, all of them very similar to 'Why did Arcee call me and why the hell does she sound like one of those obnoxious popular girls?!' Seriously, what the heck was happening?! " _I also wanted to make sure you got home safely! You didn't get into trouble with your parents, did you?_ "

"I..." Jaune looked back up to his mother. All traces of anger and impatience were gone, and were replaced with surprised wide eyes and pressed lips. Her arms were also uncrossed and she gave a motion for him to continue. "No, they were a little mad but were totally understanding because of the storm and all."

" _Awesome! Say, if you'd like, we could meet again next weekend… if you like._ " In Jaune's peripheral vision, he could see his mother quickly nodding yes.

"S-sure thing, I'll call you later about it."

" _Awesome! I gotta go now, catch you later!_ " Acree said with glee before hanging up.

Jaune stared at the scroll for a little bit longer before putting it away. His mom now had a small smile on her face. "You didn't have to lie. I understand why, but it would have been less stressful for me if you just told me you got a girlfriend," she said before turning around and walking back to the house.

Jaune was frozen on the spot, still trying to process what just happened. He eventually recovered and quickly walked back into the shed. "What was that?" He asked Arcee.

"That was me getting you out of trouble," she replied. "Would you rather get punished? Or grounded?"

"Well, no. Thank you for that by the way. But why did you have to do it like that?"

"Like what?" Arcee sounded generally confused. "Is that now how friends your age act? I picked that up from watching some other kids outside the school while waiting for you."

"Well… did you have to make it seem like we were dating?"

"Dating? What's that?" It was at that moment when Jaune realized what the misunderstanding was, but he was not in the mood to explain dating to the alien robot. He just facepalmed and muttered, "I'll explain later. I'll be right back."

Jaune went inside and came back out 15 minutes later, showered and in clean clothes. He then wheeled Arcee out of the shed and got the hose.

"Alright, this might be a little cold," Jaune warned as he squeezed the trigger and showered Arcee with water.

"It's not that bad, it's actually comforting, like the rain from last night," she commented. "Really refreshing."

Jaune adjusted the end of the nozzle, increasing the pressure to get the mud off easier. "So, what's it like transforming?" he asked in curiosity.

"I don't really know how to describe it, no one's ever really asked me that," Arcee replied honestly.

"Well, what exactly happens? How does your body change? Does it feel weird when your body folds up and expands? Do you think differently as a bike?" Jaune asked with curiosity.

"Can't really say I think differently, I just recognize that there are certain things I can and can't do. I can travel so much faster but can't turn or react as fast and I can't fight back. I don't know if you have anything similar but imagine you have the controls for something, but then you get a different controller for that same thing."

"I think I get it," Jaune said, thinking about it like different video game controllers.

"Changing forms doesn't really feel any different, it's just another function we can do. It's just as natural to us as running and crawling are to you. Sorry if that's not very informative."

"No no, its ok," Jaune said as he let go of the trigger, stopping the water flow. "How do you feel? Did I get all the mud off?"

"I definitely feel much cleaner. Thank you, though I still feel a small bit of mud on me in some places."

"Hose probably won't get them, I'll get a rag."

"Tha- someone's coming," Arcee's tone quickly hushed to a whisper as the back door opened.

"Hey dad. What's up?" Jaune stood and faced.

"Morning son, just heading out to my post for the morning" he greeted with a smile. "Say, can you do me two favors?" Jaune nodded. "In a few hours could you drive Joan to the terminal, her flight for Beacon is today."

"Sure thing. And the second thing?" Jaune raised an eyebrow when his dad's smile faded with a sigh.

"Jaune, look, your mother has been bothering me nonstop for the past 20 minutes," he walked up and handed Jaune something from his pocket.

It was a pack of condoms.

"Just tell her I gave you the talk so she can leave us alone about this. Congrats by the way, I knew you could do it." And then he was off. Jaune stared at the condoms, unable to do anything else as he contemplated what just happened… again.

"Jaune, what are those and why is your face turning red?"

* * *

The day went by fast for Arcee. Not much happened. She buried the energon she took from the ship in the forest not too far out and they took Jaune's oldest sister to the airport. It was interesting to learn from Jaune what huntsmen and huntresses and the academies were. It was interesting to learn how humanity trained its elite warriors.

Though she still wasn't sure why Jaune wouldn't explain what it was that his father gave him earlier, and why he was so quick to dismiss it.

His explanation of Beacon and huntsmen brought up more about Remnant, and Arcee, in turn, decided to return the favor. She told him everything she knew about her home, Cybertron. She told him about the Autobots, her friends and comrades in arms. She gave brief explanations of the Decepticons, too many bad memories with them to really elaborate, but she made sure Jaune knew just how vile and despicable the Decepticons really were.

Right now, it was the late evening and Jaune and Arcee were in the shed. He was getting out some small rocks that got clogged in her wheels when his dad walked in.

"Oh, hey dad. What's up?" Jaune asked.

"Hey son," the father replied. "Look, your mother is out right now, and now that Joan's gone, there's something I wanted to ask you."

"Uh, sure," Jaune stood up and leaned back against Arcee. "What's up?"

He wasn't the only one curious. Arcee couldn't help but wonder what was so important that Jonathan had to wait for specific family members had to be gone. This was something she knew was personal and private, but anything that affected Jaune can and will most likely affect her too, so she decided to listen in.

"Alright look," he paused for a few moments to sighing before continuing. "There's no easy way to start this conversation. Jaune, tell me what happened at Rorke's Drift."

"Why, what's there to talk about? We already talked about it," he replied, speaking a little quicker than normal.

"Not everything. Jaune, your mother and I noticed that you've been having trouble sleeping some nights. I assumed it was because of what happened in the town with the Grimm, so I asked Joan if she could give me more insight." Arcee could feel Jaune's body tense up at that. "She didn't outright say anything, but she was bad at hiding that she knew something. It took days for her to cave in and tell me."

Jaune looked down shame covering his face. "Why bring this up? If you already know..."

"Because it's eating at you," Jonathan took a few steps closer. "Jaune, I've been a huntsman for years, keeping something like that inside is just going to keep hurting you until you let it out." Arcee could hear Jaune's breath shutter, and then he muttered something that she couldn't hear. "Jaune?" Jaune muttered again but neither she nor he could hear him. "Jaune, look I-"

"I tried killing myself, alright?!" Jaune shouted and stood up. The back of his legs hit and knocked Arcee over. The loud clank of the impact was enough camouflaged the small, quiet gasp she let slip.

She couldn't believe what she just heard! Jaune tried to do that?! He wanted to end his own life?! What?! How?! Why?!

"I was scared! I was panicking! I was afraid of the Grimm so I tried to do it! Is that what you wanted to hear?!" Jaune could feel the anger and shame in his voice.

"Actually, yes," Jaune's body stiffened at this while his father relaxed and his face turned to show sympathy. "Jaune I already said, keep that stuff locked up like this will just let it eat you for a long time. It's like keeping a hatch or a lid closed while pressure is building up, it's only going to get worse the longer it's closed. Trust me, I know the feeling."

Arcee could see in his eyes that he spoke with experience. It was a look she saw in older veterans back on Cybertron.

Jonathan picked Arcee and stood ber back up and sat on the floor next to Jaune. "Jaune please, get it out of your system," he motioned for Jaune to sit down next to him and he did. "Tell me everything that happened that day."

Jaune did so. He described what the down was like, how he felt when the evacuation happened, when the Nevermore threw him out of the suttle, how he ran while he could hear everyone dying behind him.

Hearing Jaune describe it all… it brought back some memories.

(-)

 _"Come out, Autobots," Megatron called out as he tossed the corpse of an Autobot aside. "We all must die some time."_

 _Arcee ducked back behind cover, thanking Primus that they were too far away for the monster to hear them move. She and about two platoons worth of Autobots were set to ambush an energon convoy with a head Decepticon leader. What that intel failed to provide was that the leader was Megatron himself._

 _A massacre couldn't do justice to describe the following fight. She didn't know how she and two others managed to escape, for now. It was only a matter of time until they were found._

 _The fembot to her right started rocking back and forth, hands gripping her head tight. "We're scraped," her voice cracked and shook with her, "We're scrapped. We're totally scrapped."_

 _"Not yet we're not," the other Autobot, Cliffjumper, said. "We still can make it out of this." Megatron's fusion cannon roared in the distance, along with a scream. Arcee ducked when she heard the roar of seekers fly above. "We just gotta keep a level head so we can find a way out."_

 _"A way out," the fembot muttered._

 _Arcee took a moment to calm herself. "Alright, I think that maybe if we keep low and-_

 _"I know a way out," the fembot said softly but loud enough for them to hear._

 _"What do you-" Arcee froze as she watched the fembot line her gun up to her chest, right where spark should be. "Wait, don-!"_

 ** _BANG_**

(-)

The sound of the blast alerted the Decepticons nearby. Arcee still wasn't sure how she and Cliffjumper managed to escape after that. That, unfortunately, wasn't the last time she saw other Autobots turn their guns on themselves. Most of the time she saw the aftermath instead of the main event, but it was still a gruesome sight to behold.

Arcee wasn't sure how long she was lost in her memories, but when she came out of it she saw Jonathan with his hand on Jaune's shoulder.

"Jaune, I'm sorry I made you relive that, but it was something you couldn't keep in," he said.

"Yeah yeah, it's ok," Jaune responded, "I'm not mad."

"You sound better though. Do you feel better?"

Jaune was quiet for a few moments before answering. "Yes actually… I do feel a little bit better like a weight was lifted off my chest or something."

"Yeah, almost like that was the point of it all." Jaune stared at his dad and failed to hold a straight face.

"Thanks, dad."

"No problem son," Jonathan pulled him in for a comforting hug.

After they left, Arcee was thinking about what she learned. The thought of Jaune being in that situation hurt her. She couldn't fathom the thought of Jaune going through that again. She thought of what she could do to help him and came up with a solution.

Jaune was in that situation because he was afraid of the Grimm and because he couldn't fight. She could at least help with one of those problems, she just has to figure out how.

* * *

Dear General Ironwood,

I am pleased to report that the town of Rorke's Drift is recovering nicely. With the exception of some construction, all is like it was before. However, that is not why I am messaging you on this secure channel.

Our suspicions have been confirmed true. It took a while because of the town's recovery efforts, but we managed to get back soil samples from the town's main square.

The soil contained small traces of residue of the substance left behind by weaponry of the N.B.E.'s. All samples have been collected for quarantine. Given how much there is, we conclude that one N.B.E., possibly two at most, was active in the area during that attack.

It is also apparent that the reported dramatic decrease in Grimm numbers from the evacuation to the counter attack is thanks to the N.B.E.

This raises questions.

The only observed interactions N.B.E.'s had with the Grimm before was as a smokescreen for escape, only engaging if the Grimm were in point-blank range or in the path of escape.

The amount of the substance left over and the way the ground was warped tells us that the N.B.E. actively engaged the Grimm to destroy them. Given our previous encounters with the N.B.E.'s, we can not conclude why one would stand and fight the Grimm in a horde of that size.

I request the aid of at least an additional squad or two of S7 agents for my investigation.

More updates will follow shortly.

-Lieutenant Schwarz Lennox

* * *

 **A/N** : _And there we have. A little slow in terms of plot, but Jaune now has a cover for going out, Arcee has an incentive to train Jaune, and there are mysterious things happening in the background. Let me know what you think in the reviews. I'm really curious to see what you all think._

 _Now, my friend, Cyberleader2000, made an omake for this chapter that I think you'll enjoy. but first, 3 quick things:_

 _- Autobot Arc smut: My friend on AO3 by the name DesuVult123 (patattack750 on here) wrote a smut of Autobot and the Arc. Bewarned, it's futa on male smut. Here's a link:_

 _archiveofourown org/works/16505762 (if it doesn't work, pm me)_

 _- Amity Arena: I made an academy on the rwby mobile game, "DrunkenMarriage" for Mistral. Feel free to join._

* * *

 **OMAKE**

"Answer it on speaker," his mother glared with crossed arms. Not wanting to make the situation any worse, Jaune did as commanded.

"Hello?"

" _Hi Jaune!_ "

"Uh… hi Arcee, why are you calling?"

" _I wanted to make sure you got home safely and to thank you for coming over and fixing my pipes._ "

Jaune watched as his mother's eyes go wide. "No problem Arcee," Jaune replies nervously, hoping this would end before things got worse.

" _But I never knew handymen took payments that way. I'm now glad I was all out of lien, it was just as fun as when I paid you back for that pizza you brought over._ "

"I um..." Jaune heard a thud as his mother grabbed onto the wall to steady herself. 'Arcee, please stop.'

" _So, I was wondering..._ "

At this, Jaune got more worried. "Yes go, on."

" _Can you come back tomorrow and fix the tv? I think it needs a long hard cable plugged in the back of it, and I know you have the skills to get the job done, especially since you fixed the photocopier at work and saved me from being fired. I still think I haven't thanked you enough even with all the rewards I gave you in the supply room._ "

Jaune wasn't sure who is going to faint first: him or his mother. "I, um…. well um…. sure, I can come again." His Mother fainted as his dad ran up caught her. 'Oh god, why did I not think before I spoke?'

" _Great, I'm getting a new black couch today. Maybe you can come try it out whilst you help me rehearse scenes for a part I'm trying to get._ "

"I, I, I….." Jaune looked up to see his dad grinning and nodding whilst mouthing 'I'm so proud, get in there Jaune.'

Jaune sighed. "Sounds great."

" _Awesome, see you then!_ " Arcee giggled hung up.

Jaune stares awkwardly at his grinning farther, who was holding his hand up for a high five.

A few minutes later, jaune walked into the shed and facepalmed. "What the hell was that?"

"I thought I was helping."

"HOW?!"

"By getting you out of trouble?"

"I repeat, HOW?!"

"I just copied what I saw last night in those vids you have saved on your scroll."

"I..." he realized he had no one to blame but himself for that.

* * *

 _Thanks for reading, have a good day :)_


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